MOTOR CARS | 1930ts first World Championship event was that years Swedish Rally where the
car driven by Kalle Grundel finished 3rd overall, a most promising debut.
The RS200 went on to achieve a total of 19 wins and 32 podium finishes
at international level before the year's end, securing several national
championships along the way. Sadly, that would be the limit of its rallying
achievements, as F0SA pulled the plug on the Group B supercars at the
end of a season blighted by a number of fatal accidents, some involving
spectators. Seeking to recoup some of the £10 million rumoured to have
been spent on the project, Ford stripped down 120 RS200s and rebuilt
them as road-legal supercars to be sold at around £50,000 apiece.The car offered here, registration B200 ?V? (all the works cars carried
200 registrations) was campaigned by the Ford factory team during the
19 season of the World Rally Championship. B200 ?V? started two
events: the Acropolis Rally in June and the RAC Rally in November
of that year, on both occasions crewed by the Swedish pairing of Kalle
Grundel and Benny Melander. On the Acropolis, the two works RS200s- the other driven by Stig Blomqvist/Bruno Berglund - demonstrated their
speed, Grundel wining the 1st Special Stage by 11 seconds. He led again
after SS11, only for a broken wheel bolt, sustained during a routine tyre
change between SS17 and SS18, to put him out. Blomqvist led after SS18
but then crashed, leaving the works Peugeot 205 of KankkunenJuha to
take the win.
Masterminded by its European Motor Sports boss, Stuart Turner, the
RS200 was Ford's ambitious attempt at producing a championship
winning Group B rally car. 0mmediately prior to the proQects inception
Ford's frontline rally car had been the front-engined, rear-wheel driven
Escort RS1800, while its intended replacement – the Fiesta-based
RS1700T - was another rear-wheel-drive design. However, by this time
Audis 8uattro had convincingly demonstrated the efficacy of four-wheel
drive in rallying, prompting a drastic rethink at Boreham.
Overseen by Ford Motor Sports Chief Engineer, John Wheeler, the RS200
project commenced in 1983 with production of 200 cars planned in
order to meet Group B requirements, hence the name. The design, by
Tony Southgate, eventually crystallised as a compact mid-engined coupt
powered by a turbo-charged version of the 1.8-litre 16-valve Cosworth
BDA engine (the BDT) and equipped with four-wheel drive. This engine
produced 250bhp in road-going trim with up to 500bhp available in rally
tune. Fords 0talian subsidiary, Carrozzeria Ghia, was entrusted with the
styling, producing a purposeful yet elegant design that has stood the test
of time like few of its contemporaries. Aston Martin-owned Tickford built
the composite bodyshells at Newport Pagnell.
The RS200 was first publicly displayed in 19 4 and homologated in
February 1986 after the required 200 examples had been built, all apart
from the initial six prototypes being completed at Reliant's factory at
Shenstone, Staffordshire.
Kalle Grundel Benny Melander, 19 Acropolis Rally McKlein