Ford RS200

The Ford RS200 is a mid-engined, four-wheel drive sports car produced by Ford from 1984 through 1986. The road-going RS200 was based on Ford’s Group B rally car and was designed to comply with FIA homologation regulations, which required 200 road legal versions be built. Despite some rumors to the contrary, the RS200 was not based on the European version of the Escort, as were both its predecessor and successor.

Power came from a 1.8 litre, single turbocharged Ford/Cosworth “BDT” engine producing 250 horsepower in road going trim and between 350 and 450 horsepower in racing trim; upgrade kits were available for road-going versions to boost power output to over 300 horsepower. Although the RS had the balance and poise necessary to be competitive, its power to weight ratio was poor by comparison and its engine produced notorious low-RPM lag, making it difficult to drive and ultimately less competitive. A third place finish at the 1986 WRC Rally of Sweden was the vehicle’s best-ever finish in Group B rallying competition, although the model did see limited success outside of the ultra-competitive Group B class.

After only one full year of competition, the vehicle became obsolete, as FIA , the governing board which at the time controlled WRC rally racing, abolished Group B after the 1986 season. For 1987, Ford had planned to introduce an “Evolution” variant of the RS200 , featuring a development of the BDT engine (called BDT -E) displacing 2137 cc. Power figures for the engine vary quite a bit from source to source, but output claims range from as “little” as 550 horsepower to as high as 800 horsepower; it’s been said that the most powerful Evolution models can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just over 2 seconds, depending on gearing. Uprated brakes and suspension components were part of the package as well. The ban on Group B racing effectively forced the E2 model into stillbirth; however, about one dozen of them were successfully run from early 1987 till late 1992 in Rallycross events all over Europe, and Norwegian Martin Schanche claimed the 1991 FIA European Championship for Rallycross Drivers with a Ford RS200 E2 that produced over 650 bhp.