FORD RS200 TRIBUTE

The RS200 was born in the era of 'Group B' rallying, undeniably the most extreme period in rally history with all competing manufacturers turning every dial 'up to 11'. The power was immense, the courses dangerous and no matter how high the level of a driver's skill, it was always outmatched by the sheer bravery required to pilot these machines at full chat. Whilst Ford's competitors developed their rally cars from suitable models in their road car range - Lancia with their S4 Integrale, Audi with the S1 Quattro and Peugeot with their T16 205 - Ford took a more extreme route, building a competitive rally car and then using it as the basis for a well engineered, road-legal version, purely to tick the homologation boxes.

The new car featured a Cosworth-developed 1,803cc four-cylinder twin-cam 16V BDT fitted with a Garett T03/04 turbocharger mounted behind the driver, an advanced/switchable four-wheel drive system, a lightweight composite body (designed by Ghia) and a chassis, built around a honeycombed aluminium, steel and carbon fibre central tub devised by Formula 1 designer, Tony Southgate, in conjunction with F1 engineer, John Wheeler and went on to become one of the most revered, if underachieving, rally cars of the century.

In reality, the RS200 only had one year in 'Group B' rallying to make its mark. Kalle Grundel, one of Ford’s factory drivers, managed third place on the 1986 Rally of Sweden which turned out to be the car’s best result that season. The car’s next outing on the Rally de Portugal saw it involved in a tragic incident that took the lives of three spectators and with hindsight, that proved to be the 'straw that broke the camel's back' in terms of 'Group B' rallying, with the category ceasing to exist at the end of the season. The RS200 continued to compete in rallycross events at National and local level and like the Metro 6R4, proved popular being relatively cost-effective and easy to repair.

To comply with the 'Homologation' rules, Ford were required to build 200 road-going examples, however fast and capable they may have been but they were crudely finished and somewhat impractical to live with as a road car and with the cancellation of 'Group B' many orders were cancelled. Justin Smith, the Ford RS200 authority, believes as few as 147 were actually sold.

The combination of its scarcity and the mystique around the whole 'Group B' era has resulted in the value of these cars rocketing in recent years, with prices achieved now being regularly over £250,000 and can be as much as £400,000-plus. They do come to market and find new homes but one of the most significant factors in their residual value is the mileage. The lower the better, with new owners doing the same as everyone else and popping the car into their Collection and not driving it. Consequently, anyone hoping to acquire an RS200 with the intention of using it and having fun (which is what our vendor had in mind), has to spend a lot of money and risk some level of devaluation.

Our vendor's solution was to purchase a car from a leading company that specialises in the production of quality RS200 replicas (prior to buying the company!) and then invest six years and over £150,000 utilising amassed knowledge, original parts and expert contacts, plus commissioning some of the best engineers to create what is undoubtedly the ultimate road-going RS200. With numerous original/period parts fitted, plus an original RS200 toolkit, there is much to recommend this superb car.

For the sake of brevity the car's build specification is listed below:

Well specified, cleverly engineered and beautifully presented, this is a totally practical and comfortable re-creation of the RS200 that can be enjoyed regularly over the years without concern about putting miles on the clock.

We are never sure how to describe cars like this - is it an homage, tribute, replica, re-creation, resurrection, or a re-imagination? What ever suits, it's probably best thought of as the car that Ford would have built if they were redesigning the RS200 for 2025.

Transmission: Manual