Ford Rs200

[AXrescuer]

What's the story with these? I've heard of them but never seen one in the flesh until I was blitzed by a white C reg example on the A1m near Stevenage on Sunday!

[mk1_4dr]

What do you want to know. They were built to compete in the ill-fated Group B rallying of the mid-late 80s.

BDT powered I believe, M/R drivetrain, not built in huge numbers and the ones that were built are parts bin specials (mk1 sierra windscreen etc etc)

Theres lots of replicas out there, usually YB powered but sometimes they just look the part

Real ones are epically fast and massively rare to see, let alone get thrashed by one.

 

This is a real one that I saw at Cholmondelely castle '08

 

 

[Mike D]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_RS200

 

Pretty much a Group B car for the road!

[AXrescuer]

Cheers guys, much appreciated.I know one thing, they're bloody quick!

[Milford Cubicle]

Little do you know, it was a replica based on an A-series Maestro.

[Richard]

I was going to say it can't be a real one on an L plate.

[Mr Lobster]

I think they are absolutely stunning. Definately one of the cars I would own if I had plenty of money!

[Guest]

I was going to say it can't be a real one on an L plate.

Its real...........Registration L7LOG Make FORD Model RS200 Description 4WD Date of Liability 01 11 2009 Date of First Registration 12 08 1994 Year of Manufacture 1994 Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1803CC CO2 Emissions Not Available Fuel Type Petrol Export Marker Not Applicable Vehicle Status Licence Not Due Vehicle Colour WHITE http://www.rs200.org/194.htm

[HillmanImp]

I have some photos of them rallying in Newcastelton in the scottish borders in the 80's. Next time i am visiting my mum i will dig them out.

[Justin Case]

They were built for Class B rallying, which I think meant that at least 200 had to be built, hence the name. They were built at Shenstone near Lichfield in the factory that had been used to make Norton rotary bikes, so tha might have been just a contract. I went round the factory in the late 80s with the Saab Club, and the place was definitely full of finished ones as well as those being built. Didn't the rules change after a number of accidents and make them obsolete, so it figures that it might have taken a few years to sell off the remainder, which would account for the L reg.

[Volksy]

From Wiki..The stage was set for 1986 to be a very exciting season. Defending champion Timo Salonen had the new Evolution 2 version of Peugeot's T16 with ex Toyota driver, Juha Kankkunen. Audi's new Sport Quattro S1 boasted over 600 hp (450 kW) and a huge snowplow-like front end. Lancia's Delta S4 would be in the hands of the Finnish prodigy Henri Toivonen and Markku Alen, and Ford was ready with its high tech RS200 with Stig Blomqvist and Kalle Grundel.Everything was to go tragically wrong, however, on the "Lagoa Azul" stage of Portuguese Rally near Sintra. Portuguese national champion Joaquim Santos crested a rise to find the road blocked with spectators crowding to see the fastest cars come through. He lost control of his RS200 while trying to stop and plunged into the crowd. Thirty-one people were injured and three were killed. All the top teams immediately pulled out of the rally and Group B was placed in jeopardy. Lancia Delta S4.Disaster struck again in early May at the Tour de Corse. Lancia's Toivonen was leading the championship, and once the rally got underway he was the pace setter. Seven kilometres into the 18th stage, Toivonen's S4 flew off the unguarded edge of a left hand hairpin bend and crashed into a ravine. The car landed inverted with the fuel tanks ruptured by the impact. The combination of red hot turbocharger, Kevlar bodywork, and ruptured fuel tank ignited the car and set fire to the dry undergrowth. Only a cloud of smoke and the lack of Toivonen's car at the finish indicated that something was very wrong. By the time rescue workers made it to the remote spot (some 30 minutes, by some accounts) all that remained of the car was a blackened frame with the bones of Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto inside. With no witnesses to the accident it was impossible to determine what caused the crash other than Toivonen had left the road at high speed. Some cite Toivonen's ill health at the time (he reportedly was suffering from flu); other suggest mechanical failure, or simply the difficulty of driving the machine although Toivonen had a career full of crashing out while leading rallies. Up until that stage he was taking stage win after stage win and leading the rally by a large margin with no other driver challenging him. Simply using a racing fuel cell in place of the fuel tank may have saved them.The crash came a year after Lancia driver Attilio Bettega had crashed and died in his 037. While that fatality was largely blamed on the unforgiving Corsican scenery (and bad luck, as his co-driver, Maurizio Perissinot was uninjured), Toivonen and Cresto's death, combined with the Portugal tragedy and televised accident of F1 driver Marc Surer in another RS200 which killed his co-driver, compelled the FIA to act: Group B cars were immediately banned for 1987. Audi decided to quit Group B entirely after Corsica.The final days of Group B would also be controversial. The Peugeots were disqualified from the Rally San Remo by the Italian scrutineers as the 'skirts' around the bottom of the car were deemed to be illegal. Peugeot immediately accused the Italians of favouring the Lancias. Their case was strengthened at the next event, the RAC Rally, when the British scrutineers passed the Peugeots as legal in identical trim. FISA annulled the result of the San Remo Rally eleven days after the final round in America. As a result the championship title was passed from Lancia's Markku Alen to Peugeot's Juha Kankkunen.

[MrRegieRitmo]

so it figures that it might have taken a few years to sell off the remainder, which would account for the L reg.

But it says manufactured 1994?

[AnthonyG]

so it figures that it might have taken a few years to sell off the remainder, which would account for the L reg.

But it says manufactured 1994?

Registered 1994, the manufacturer bit would just be DVLA bollox as they were produced by Reliant on a contract basis, last one completed in about 1989 as I recall. Unsold, unregistered ones sat around for ages, particularly after the recession hit in 90/91, so its perfectly possible that it sat around in a garage until 1994.If it was dodgy or a kit it wouldn't be on the RS200 club register.

[Albert Ross]

I believe Paul Banham bought the moulds, and created a kit car using Maestro Turbo oily bits........Bet it went well enough!

 

http://www.aronline.co.uk/index.htm?banhamindexf.htm

[Station]

This one crashed and exploded, the driver was thrown clear and went into racing again afterwards!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xokJEbfs ... L&index=17

 

Homologation is where a certain number of road going versions needed to be produced.

[hammy]

Many of them finished up in rally cross after the group B ban.It also until very recently held the record for the fastest production car ever built, I believe although it topped out at 183mph because the production run of 200 was so high, it qualified for the production car record where as more faster cars were only built in small numbers. Totally mad and now good ones are changing hands for a small fortune

[garethj]

It also until very recently held the record for the fastest production car ever built, I believe although it topped out at 183mph

You sure about that? Perhaps the fastest accelerating production car, but can't have been the fastest top speed shirley?I went to an engineering presentation given by some bloke from Ford's motorsport division back in about 1987 and it was all about the RS200 development. As far as I remember, the engine took drive to the front axle and gearbox, then all the way back so there were 2 propshafts.They said that the Sierra had very good visibility through the windscreen, something like a Lancia Stratos or Ford GT40 was difficult to drive in the dark because of the steeply raked screen. So they used a Sierra front screen, and once you've fixed that in your design you use Sierra door tops too and mostly a Sierra dash because it all fits.He showed us a video of the development and of course it's bonkers fast, even more so in 1987. As the film went on, he explained how an off road course is very demanding because you need quite a lot of wheel articulation, so the suspension geometry must be good to not give bump steer or big changes in camber between full bump and full drop.Jackie Stewart was one of their test drivers, and he can drive a bit - they showed him snaking in and out of cones faster than you can believe, the car not leaning too much even at that very high speed. Then they put the cones on top of a kerb, it was about 6 inches high and a foot wide and he did the same slalom thing at the same speed riding over and over this kerb every turn I've done a quick search you youtube but can't find the video, it must still exist somewhere?Fantastic car, but I'd prefer a Panther Solo 2

[hammy]

It also until very recently held the record for the fastest production car ever built, I believe although it topped out at 183mph

You sure about that? Perhaps the fastest accelerating production car, but can't have been the fastest top speed shirley?I went to an engineering presentation given by some bloke from Ford's motorsport division back in about 1987 and it was all about the RS200 development. As far as I remember, the engine took drive to the front axle and gearbox, then all the way back so there were 2 propshafts.They said that the Sierra had very good visibility through the windscreen, something like a Lancia Stratos or Ford GT40 was difficult to drive in the dark because of the steeply raked screen. So they used a Sierra front screen, and once you've fixed that in your design you use Sierra door tops too and mostly a Sierra dash because it all fits.He showed us a video of the development and of course it's bonkers fast, even more so in 1987. As the film went on, he explained how an off road course is very demanding because you need quite a lot of wheel articulation, so the suspension geometry must be good to not give bump steer or big changes in camber between full bump and full drop.Jackie Stewart was one of their test drivers, and he can drive a bit - they showed him snaking in and out of cones faster than you can believe, the car not leaning too much even at that very high speed. Then they put the cones on top of a kerb, it was about 6 inches high and a foot wide and he did the same slalom thing at the same speed riding over and over this kerb every turn I've done a quick search you youtube but can't find the video, it must still exist somewhere?Fantastic car, but I'd prefer a Panther Solo 2

Stand corrected, it certainly held or holds a record anyway - not bad for a Ford!

[ashmicro]

These things are mentally quick and very noisy. They can occaisionaly be seen mixing it up with 6R4 at Nutts Corner and Mondello in the Rallycross "Supercar Class".It makes me a little bit sad to see these once world famous machines getting smashed to bits like so much rubbish.IIRC, there was a feature in CAR magazine many years ago about a company callled KARA who made replicas of the RS200.

[trigger]

To give you an idea on the awesomeness of the beasts here a 1986 Autocar test i scanned off one a while back.

 

 

 

 

[Gompo]

I am surprised this hasnt been posted yet..

 

Jeremy Clarkson drives an RS200:

 

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... ID=4519558

[MrRegieRitmo]

I believe Paul Banham bought the moulds, and created a kit car using Maestro Turbo oily bits........Bet it went well enough!http://www.aronline.co.uk/index.htm?banhamindexf.htm

I'd be happy with one of those!

[Guest Tony Hayers]

The dash always reminded me of a MK2 Fiesta.Got a Ford brochure somewhere and the RS200 is the 'showcase' (at the front of the brochure) with the late Mark Lovell putting it through its paces.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Totally mad and now good ones are changing hands for a small fortune

The models are worth a bit too!

 

 

 

(well, in 1/43, Minichamps & white anyway)

 

Looks much better without all of the OTT spotlights on the front IMO. If it's a road car anyway

[MrRegieRitmo]

The dash always reminded me of a MK2 Fiesta.Got a Ford brochure somewhere and the RS200 is the 'showcase' (at the front of the brochure) with the late Mark Lovell putting it through its paces.

He didn't die behind the wheel of one did he?

[M'coli]

No, it was a Subaru he was driving.

[brammy777]

Umph,the price of that model one is nuts!Always admired the group B rally cars, i must admit. In fact i detailed them in my college coursework just so i could type about itIll get a tagora in one day, you wait.Was there any pikes peaks varients of this?

[MrRegieRitmo]

No, it was a Subaru he was driving.

So he did die behind the wheel? Being involved with motorsport must give you the same sort of mortality rate / expected life span as that of a 'pro' wrestler!

[MrRegieRitmo]

Umph,the price of that model one is nuts!

if you want it in white yes, but let's face it you probably can't picture it in any other colour anyway!

Always admired the group B rally cars, i must admit.

How do you define group b, were there other 'groups' & how were they different? Was group b the most dangerous judging by the fact it was scrapped?

[The Liberator]

Ill get a tagora in one day, you wait.Was there any pikes peaks varients of this?

Just GL, GLS and SX I think