SIERRA RACER
The owner of this Cosworth powered three-door is Frank Frostick and he’s a die-hard lover of the Blue Oval, which is why he saved this Sierra from the scrap yard and brought it back to life as a mighty track car...
Cossie-powered three-door is ready to tear it up on the track.
Few people I’ve ever met over the years in this scene really love the Ford brand as much as Frank Frostick. It’s fair to say that he’s passionate about the Blue Oval, and to say Frank lives and breathes it would be an understatement. In proof of that, in the past he has not only saved a good few older Fords from the clutches of the scrap yard, quite literally in some cases, but he’s always been happy to have a go and get stuck in too. That means getting on the spanners and building up cars from bare shells in his workshop to actively participating in just about any form of motorsport that allows him to enjoy the fine fleet of Fords he’s built up.
It all started for Frank with a Mk2
Escort that he saved from the crusher as a teenager before he could drive; a car that became his first car, which he progressively modified throughout the following years and went on to use at both Santa Pod and various track days. He still has that same car, but his thirst for more developed over time into full competition racing, when Frank competed in the MSV Trackday Trophy with a naturally aspirated Pinto powered Sierra Sapphire he built, before his latest foray into MSV Enduroka championship, which is an endurance racing series that ranges between five and 12 hours behind the wheel of a basic race-prepped Ford Ka. Together, these cars spawned Frank’s own selfsufficient race team: Frost Racing.
So what does a dedicated Ford track racer build and drive in his spare time? Another Ford Sierra is the answer, in this well modified three-door that runs Cosworth power and plenty of trick upgrades to boot. The reason for this particular build was simple: Frank had never owned a three-door Sierra before and when he was offered a shell that was going to be sent to the scrap yard, in typically Frank fashion, he simply couldn’t refuse. Of course the story is slightly more complex than that, as he explains.
“It was an ex-rally car but it had suffered some pretty serious damage sustained during testing,” tells Frank. “It belonged to a good friend and it had already been stripped of the mechanical parts and running gear, as he was going to scrap the shell. But I just couldn’t see it go to waste.”
Sure enough, true to his Ford roots, Frank saved the Sierra from a trip to the crushers and began rebuilding the car, even if it did come along at a bad time, as he was saving for a house and promised his partner he wouldn’t buy any more cars.
“It was offered to me at a time when it shouldn’t have,” he admits with a chuckle. “But it all just fell into place like it was meant to be and it was also my first chance at a
“The shakedown for the car was a trip to the Spa circuit in Belgium, which proved to be a true trial by fire...”
three-door Sierra. I never really thought I would own one, especially with the way values have gone in recent times.”
Frank decided to build the shell up as a track car, but unlike his dedicated racing Sierra Sapphire, he realised he could use the project as the ideal development tool to enhance his own driving abilities by starting with a basic specification and upgrading the car slowly as he advanced too.
“Building it from scratch, I thought it would be good to evolve the car at the same
time as I did,” he tells. “This way, I realised I could actually learn how changing each part, component or setting actually altered the way it drove, rather than just jumping the gun and putting a hoard of uprated parts on the car as everyone usually does. This way, I would learn how these parts limited me as a driver.”
So with the damaged Sierra brought back to his workshop, Frank set about repairing it by having it straightened out on a jig by a good friend. Thankfully, it didn’t take much largely due to the comprehensive 26-point roll cage the car was fitted with. It also came fitted with a full Cosworth body kit that was largely still intact and so the shell was repainted in Frozen White to give it a new lease of life. When it came to building it back up into a car, luckily Frank just happened to have the complete engine and entire running gear from a rear-wheel drive Sapphire Cosworth that he had removed from the Pinto-powered Sapphire racer. A few upgrades came along at the same time, such as a T34 turbo, grey injectors and an L6 ECU mapped by Cosworth guru Joe Sorenti at GS Motosport. A set of GAZ Gold coilovers and manly sized 17x9in wheels hiding a Wilwood four-pot big brake kit also made its way across to the Sierra, ensuring it would be a good base all-rounder to start with.
Working between other projects – including a house! – the build took some time to put together, but eventually it was time for his first go behind the wheel of an iconic three-door. However, the circumstances weren’t exactly ideal, even for a seasoned racer like Frank.
“The shakedown for the car was a trip to the Spa circuit in Belgium, which proved to be a true trial by fire, as it rained
“The value on these cars is so high now I would be worried about the cost of replacing it if something did go wrong though, so for now I’ll stick to track days and the odd sprint day...”
the whole time and the car was fitted with racing slick tyres,” remembers Frank. “It was the first time I’d ever driven this freshly built car and also the first time I’d driven on slicks, so it was an interesting day to say the least and there were plenty of slides!”
Since then, Frank admits he has still only driven the car a handful of times, due to continued time constraints, but from his minimal seat time so far, he’s already realised it needs some further fettling.
“It drives a lot like my old Sapphire Cosworth, as it is virtually the same car underneath. It does feel a little more stable at high speed, which is down to the rear spoiler doing its work,” he says. “I think the suspension is a little too stiff though, so softening the set up by changing the spring rates will help, as they are quite high. That way, they will help let the dampers to do more of the work and make the car nicer to drive.”
Based on that statement, it would appear Frank’s original plan to help him develop as a driver and identify how the car might be holding him back is certainly working. There’s also the plan to get the car fitted out with the same livery decals to match his other Frost Racing Ford racers, which means a set of stripes along the bottom of the car that run into chequered flags that feature on all his cars.
Of course, the three-door is still a track car so doesn’t technically need a racing livery, but Frank admits he would like to race the car properly one day.
“The value on these cars is so high now I would be worried about the cost of replacing it if something did go wrong though,” tells Frank. “So for now, I’ll stick to track days and the odd sprint day.”
With Frank’s past credentials, we’ll have to see if he stays true to his word, but rest assured he’ll be flying the Ford flag no matter what he’s competing in…