Lot details
Registration No: C998SRB
Chassis No: SFACXXBJ2CGL00106
Mot Expiry: May 2006

"Rallying has reached a point such that the speed limitation is the profile of the road. If everything goes right for the drivers, there is no more than two or three seconds of difference on a stage. Which means the judge is not the car, the tires, or the drivers - it is the road. They cannot go any faster!" (Maurice Guaslard, head of Michelin's Group B rally program, 1986)
Conceived purely as a Group B rally car, the Ford RS200 was unveiled at the November 1984 Turin Motor Show. The work of ex-F1 designer Tony Southgate and ex-F1 engineer John Wheeler, its advanced chassis incorporated a central aluminium monocoque cell with detachable subframes fore and aft. Suspended by double wishbones and twin-coil over shock absorbers, each wheel was fed power by a highly sophisticated Ferguson Formula (FF) system. Using a combination of three viscous couplings and a centre diff lock etc, it allowed the torque split between the front and rear wheels to be varied on the move. Thus, a driver could switch from a 37:63 bias to a 50:50 one halfway through a stage! Powered by a mid-mounted turbocharged 1803cc four-cylinder BDT engine, the RS200 carried its five-speed gearbox up front. While, this arrangement necessitated two propshafts, it also contributed to the car's excellent weight distribution. Clad in Ghia-styled but Reliant-built 'clamshell' glassfibre bodywork (though the cut-down doors and windscreen were Sierra sourced), a delay in production meant that the 200 cars necessary for homologation were not completed until February 1986. Debuting at the Swedish Rally, the RS200 managed a highly credible third place overall.
Producing some 380bhp - 450bhp in 'Works' tune, the Ford was perhaps 50bhp down and 100kg up on spaceframe racers such as the Peugeot 205 T16 and Lancia Delta S4. Although, this did not stop Stig Blomqvist and Grundel taking it in turns to lead the Acropolis Rally before both succumbing to mechanical maladies, it did encourage the Blue Oval to sanction an Evolution version. Obeying the FIA's stipulation that any such run should represent at least 10% of total production, rally team manager Stuart Turner duly converted 24 of the original 200 to Evo specification. With their BDT engines bored out to 2.1 litres (the class limit), these modified RS200s claimed an incredible 650bhp. Carrying less weight, better brakes and stronger suspension than the original 'Works' cars, they promised to dominate the 1987 season. Sadly, it was never to be as Ford withdrew from Group B rallying following Lancia driver Henri Toivenen's death on the 1986 Tour de Corse. Denied an international stage, the RS200 Evolution remains one of rallying's greatest 'What Ifs' (though, they would go onto decimate various lesser formulae). According to information supplied by the vendor, C998 SRB is "one of the original Evolution cars, Number 216". Finished in yellow with black upholstery and grey carpets, he describes the left-hand drive car as being in excellent condition with regard to its engine, transmission, electrical equipment, chassis, paintwork and bodywork. Though, he only rates the interior as good and notes that the tyres are two-thirds worn. Reportedly "sold in 1989 to Californian Frank Profera who ordered it with a special ported and gas-flowed big valve Evo 2 engine utilising the later and stronger MK2 head", its powerplant is alleged to have "produced 704bhp on the dyno". Apparently fitted with "a larger 'IMSA spec' intercooler, big brakes, adjustable anti-roll bars, hydraulic handbrake, Works type front bumper and grilles, bonnet pins, harness belts by Sabelt and 9.25 inch Speedline split rims", it is further said to benefit from "power assisted steering and wind-up windows". Given that a Works prepared Evo piloted by Stig Blomqvist famously recorded a 0-60mph time of 2.1 seconds, C998 SRB's performance is likely to be on the strong side. Believed but not warranted to have covered just 9,266 miles, it is offered for sale with MOT certificate current until 9th May 2006.