Ford RS200 - 1

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Capture Date: Jul. 13, 2010
City: England (UK), Tunbridge Wells

I came across this today.... sitting in the showroom at a diesel specialists - go figure. My stepfather has an incredibly dull Peugeot 407 diesel which was in for service so I drove him over there expecting mundanity in the extreme, and this Group B monster was just parked in the middle of the showroom. It wasn't for sale, so I guess it belongs to one of the owners of the dealership. Couldn't stay long so only got a couple of iPhone shots - apologies for the quality.

This is one of the 200 road cars, built to homologate the RS200 for Group B. They had 4-cyl 1.8l Cosworth engines with 250 bhp in road-going trim and up to 650 bhp in full race spec. Launched in 1984, it had modest succes on the world rally scene. In 1986 at the Rally de Portugal, one left the road and killed three spectators, and another crashed at a rally in Germany the same year, killing the co-driver. In a way, both these events helped put the final nails in the coffin for The Greatest Rally Championship Of All Time. Sadly, nowadays a lot of these are torn apart every weekend on the British Rallycross scene.

Despite my kind offer of a lift, my stepfather refuses to be a passenger in my Trophy - he thinks a tiny car with relatively good power is 'downright dangerous' (!), so I took my mum's MGF (and yes, I did look very manly thanks), which is by far the worst mid-engined car I've ever driven. It seems to hunt out cambers like a proper supercar, but without any of the supercar rewards. And the scuttle shake is quite extraordinary. Ugh.



8 comments about RS200

avatar oliver_sudden 10:05am Tuesday July 13, 2010
 
LOVE these! Group B cars were so brutal. I saw Michele Mouton wrestiling an Audi S1 up the hill at Goodwood a few years ago. The thing was barely in contact with the planet. Unforgettable.
 
avatar oliver_sudden 10:25am Tuesday July 13, 2010
 
If I'd ever driven an MGF I'd have kept it a secret. I do have standards, low though they may be.
 
avatar Vinay 1:05am Wednesday July 14, 2010
 

WOWOWOW SICK Spot. I LOVE these too. They 450+ horsepower EVO versions had unreal 0-60 times... in the low 3 seconds... in the 1980s!!!!!!!!!!!! They were BIG money too.  That's really good that you got pics. Very rare.

 
avatar JamesAsh 5:37am Wednesday July 14, 2010
 
Well thanks! There's a great article on Pistonheads about the RS200: http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=103&i=7138 . . . . According to the Wiki entry, the 450bhp EVOs could hit 60mph in 2.8 seconds (!) . . . and the PH article says the full-house 650bhp versions could hit the benchmark in a scarcely believable 2.1 seconds. There were even IMSA GTO versions with 750 bhp. Those 80's drivers had some SERIOUS cojones. Sadly, I guess we'll never see their like again - although I'm pretty sure current WRC cars' safety is such that drivers would still walk away from the kind of crashes that made Group B both spectacular and tragic.
 
avatar JamesAsh 5:42am Wednesday July 14, 2010
 
Oh, and re the MGF, its one redeeming feature is the plucky little Rover K-Series VVC lump, like the one in early Elises. A great little engine, even with its incredible thirst for gobbling up head gaskets (mum's on her third in 58k miles!). I had shades on, the roof up and the sun visors down, so I hope no-one recongnised me!
 
avatar KerryMal 6:14am Tuesday July 20, 2010
 
Magic car, a great era we wont see again. Love the original CB750 Honda in the background of pic 1.
 
avatar KerryMal 6:20am Tuesday July 20, 2010
 
Just had a look at the shops website and they have a huge number of cars for sale but no info on this or the bike. They did state "We specialise in Prestige and INTERESTING vehicles from our premises in East Peckham and solely diesel vehicles from our premises in Flimwell". Maybe James could pay a visit to East Peckham?
 
avatar JamesAsh 11:07am Tuesday July 20, 2010
 
Aha, I had no idea they had another showroom! I'll pop over at some point and see what they've got in stock. A chap has just set up an M3 CSL specialists near me so I will have to go and drool there too. I'm afraid I hadn't even noticed the CB750! There was a lovely restored Frogeye Sprite, along with a pretty but tired Dolomite Sprint just behind where I was standing, none of which were for sale.
 
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July 13, 2010
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