Ford RS200

           

    

Sometimes, people either get it or they don't. Most people would look at the Ford RS200 and, if they notice it at all, blankly wonder what sort of bulbous, plasticky econocar Ford was trying to pawn off on an unsuspecting public in the 1980s. Was it some sort of Escort with a bizarre rear spoiler? No matter. It's a Ford, it's small, it's easily dismissed.

Others, like me, look at the RS200 with reverent awe. Why? I'll get to that.

Unlike the RS200, virtually everyone knows what a Porsche 959 is. Lovely, unbelievably quick, seductively sophisticated, and bearing the shield of one of the world's most prestigious sports car manufacturers, the 959 was immortalized in bedroom posters and study hall drawings throughout the 1980s and 1990s. To the average person, the 959 could not have been more different than the unheralded and plebeian Ford RS200.

However, the RS200 and 959, in a very real way, were siblings. Both were designed for the legendary Group B rallying series, home of the fastest, most technological production-based cars available. The difference between the two cars was that the RS200 was more extreme, more accomplished, and even a bit quicker.

Yes, the RS200 is every bit the supercar as the Porsche 959, with a sophisticated all-wheel-drive system (a real rarity in 1985) and brutal bursts of turbocharged horsepower combining to form a vicious at-the-limit ballet as explosively dangerous as it is breathtaking. It's easy to find claims on the

Internet of 0-60 runs in the 2-second range; I find those claims unbelievable, but I'm quite willing to believe the RS200 is even quicker than the sizzling 3.6-second time put up by the 959.

The fact that very few people have heard of the RS200 only adds to its cachet among the cognoscenti--it is perhaps the most extreme combination of potent performance and complete anonymity in the automotive world.

These photos are courtesy of the magic of Flickr and user Mike da Kiwi. He also has a bunch of other glorious photos from the halcyon days of Group B rallying.

--Chris H.

Comments

[ALeks Risitic, Toronto on December 20, 2009 at 03:18 PM]

Interesting. Not pretty but not ugly either. I wonder if this vehicle served as distant inspiration of the Mazda MX3 ... although it more resembles the product of an un-natural act between a Toyota Sera and Suzuki X90!

I would drive as is just to offend people. But it might work better with some sleeker headlights grafted in - like form an MX3 or maybe a Nen or Focus. Maybe a silver or copper paint job with a black hood stripe from the windshield to the vent?