The Ford RS200 is one of those cars that sounds like an urban legend until someone pulls back a garage door and proves it was very real. Mid engined, four wheel drive, and built purely to win rallies, it packed so much potential that the rulebook effectively kicked it out after a single wild season. It was born to dominate, then sidelined almost overnight, which is exactly why it still looms so large in enthusiast memory.
On paper, it was just another homologation special. In practice, it became a case study in what happens when engineers are given almost no limits and regulators suddenly panic. The RS200’s story is short, brutal, and unforgettable, and it explains how one rare mid engined Ford ended up too fast and too extreme for the series it was built to conquer.
Built With No Compromise For Group B Madness
Ford did not stumble into the RS200 by accident, it built the car from scratch for the most unhinged rally category of the 80s. The project was created for Group B, with Ford Motor Motorsport and for homologation rules that demanded a run of road going versions. That is how a purpose built rally weapon ended up as a mid engined, four wheel drive production car that regular buyers could, at least in theory, register and drive on public roads. The layout was radical for the brand, with the engine mounted behind the seats and power sent to all four wheels through a complex driveline that prioritized traction over comfort.
To get the car legal for competition, Ford had to build a small batch of road cars, and that is where its rarity starts. The company produced about 200 examples, a figure that turned The Ford RS200 into what one detailed analysis calls Rarest Ford Production. Those road cars were not watered down toys either, they were closely related to the rally machines, with the same basic chassis, suspension layout, and turbocharged four cylinder heart that could be tuned far beyond its initial output.
Wild Child Performance And The Evolution That Went Too Far
Even in standard rally trim, the RS200 was a handful, and its competition debut showed how much speed Ford had unlocked. The car quickly earned a reputation as Wild Child The of Group B, a machine built with no compromise around a mid engine, turbocharged four that delivered brutal acceleration on loose surfaces. Contemporary footage shows the RS200 rocketing out of hairpins and floating over crests, its compact body and long travel suspension working overtime to keep those four driven wheels in contact with the ground while spectators stood frighteningly close to the action.
Ford did not stop there, it pushed the package even harder with the RS200 Evolution, often shortened to Evo. This version Has a Bigger Engine And Bonkers Power, with a revised turbocharged unit, a new exhaust manifold, and output figures that climbed into territory usually reserved for top level circuit racers. In period testing, the Evolution’s launch control and gearing produced a 0 to 60 mph time that undercut supercars, with one recorded sprint stopping the clocks at a record time of 3.07 seconds, a number that still sounds outrageous for a rally derived car from the 80s.
The underlying engineering was as serious as the numbers suggest. The RS200 used a lightweight shell with a Composite body, a Mid engine layout that was clearly visible through the rear glass, and a Design Exterior that was Compact but wide, with huge vents and intakes to feed the turbo and cool the brakes. Styling cues were secondary to function, yet the result was a squat, aggressive shape that looked every bit as serious as its spec sheet. On social media today, enthusiasts still describe it as the wild child of Group B, marketed originally to wealthy buyers who wanted something as close to the rally machine as possible.
From Rally Portugal Tragedy To Cult Icon
The RS200’s downfall was not a lack of pace, it was the brutal reality of Group B’s safety record. During Rally Portugal, an RS200 left the road and plowed into spectators, a disaster that became a turning point for the category and for Ford’s project. The accident at Rally Portugal set off a chain reaction inside the sport’s governing bodies, which were already under pressure after other fatal crashes. The WRC’s organizing body, FISA, responded by moving to shut down the Unhinged Group B Cars Came With Tragic Consequences era, a decision that effectively made the RS200 obsolete after only one full year of top level competition.
When Group B was cancelled, the regulations that had created the RS200 also killed it. The ban on Group B racing forced the Evolution model into retirement, even though more than a dozen of those upgraded cars were successfully run in rallycross and circuit events with power figures quoted up to 650 bhp (485 kW). The core RS200 design did not suddenly become slow or outdated, it simply no longer had a home in the world championship, so teams and privateers shifted the cars into other series where their explosive performance could still be used.
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