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Ford RS 200 - evolution or revolution?

Name: Ford RS 200 1986
Brand: Ford

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Created on November 3, 2015

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Patrick Emzen - Courtesy RM/Sotheby's

Bruno von Rotz

Christian Heuser

FabPetersson Fotografie

Ford Motor Company

Petra Sagnak / classiccar-photo.de

Daniel Fessl

RBHahn / Pressematerial

Patrick Emzen - Courtesy RM/Sotheby's

Bruno von Rotz

Christian Heuser

FabPetersson Fotografie

Ford Motor Company

Petra Sagnak / classiccar-photo.de

Daniel Fessl

RBHahn / Pressematerial

Ford RS 200 (1986) - 5 seconds were enough for the production version to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - built without compromise

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - the body is made of plastic

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - short overhangs and adjustable ground clearance

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - Front and rear hoods can be opened

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - 1.75 meters wide, approx. 1.32 meters high

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - Aesthetics were not the main focus

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - finding one is difficult. Even more difficult to follow ...

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - developed for the rally track

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - Ford series components send their regards, the lever for power distribution, which was still present on early road models, is missing here

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - red gearshift seats

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - rev counter up to 10,000 rpm, speedometer up to 240 km/h

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - Additional instruments and the current supercharger pressure

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - Controls from the large series

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - the engine was not really easily accessible despite the large flap

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - longitudinally mounted four-valve engine with turbocharger and 250 hp

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - the "200" indicates the batch size - 200 units had to be built for Group B homologation

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - in Ford motorsport livery

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - rally-style on the road

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Ford RS 200 (1986) at the Eifel Rallye Festival 2015

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Ford RS200 Group B (1987) at the Eifel Rallye Festival 2015

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - Group B Rally Legends Saalfelden 2015

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - in the special exhibition "Let it B" with Group B rally cars at the Schloss Bensberg Classics 2015

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Ford RS200 Evolution (1986) - produced up to 588 hp in race trim - Techno Classica 2015

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Ford RS 200 (1986) - at the ADAC Eifel Rallye Festival 2014

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Ford RS200 (1986) - Eifel Rallye Festival 2012 - Stig Blomqvist at the wheel

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Summary

In 1983, Ford launched the development of the RS 200, which was to give the Group B rally competition from Peugeot, MG and Audi a run for their money. With its uncompromising design and a six-figure price tag, the fast Ford did not have an easy time with private road drivers, despite euphoric press reports and the seriousness of a large series manufacturer in the background. The car also failed to shine in rally sport, coming too late and only just before the end of Group B. 30 years later, however, the RS 200 is considered one of the most fascinating contemporary witnesses of that era. This vehicle report describes and shows the Ford RS 200 in many pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

Consistent racing car construction
Series evolution?
Civilian road version
Hot rally version
Too late and too dangerous?
How many were really built?
Further information

Estimated reading time: 4min

Preview (beginning of the article)

In the first half of the 1980s, only those who competed in the World Rally Championship with a thoroughbred racing car disguised as a road car stood a chance. Peugeot, Lancia, MG and Audi had shown the way, Ford did not want to be left behind and so the probably most extreme road-going Ford of modern times was created, because the Group B regulations required 200 variants to be built for homologation that could be used in normal traffic. In order to compete against Lancia and Peugeot, Ford had to be uncompromising. From 1983, John Wheeler designed a 4x4 drive system based on the Ferguson license, Tony Southgate, a well-known F1 designer, designed an innovative chassis and Filippo Sapino styled the plastic bodywork at Ghia. The entire design was subject to the sole objective of building a rally car capable of winning.

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