Looking like a twisted stealth technology exercise shrouded in a funky 1980s styling tsunami, the Ford RS200 is actually a very serious car. The Ford RS200 Evolution was crowned as the quickest-accelerating car in the world in 1986 according to the “Guinness Book of World Records” when it scampered to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.07 seconds, a mark that stood for 12 years.

The Ford RS200 was a homologation model Ford of Europe built to qualify for Group B rally racing which was a no-holds-barred category that featured high speeds and high costs. The RS200’s infrastructure was based on an existing Ford rally car. Next, a stout, moderately tweaked Ford-Cosworth four cylinder was set-up to run amidships. Then a white fiberglass body penned by Ghia was draped over the construct and finally, taking cues from the successful Audi rally cars of the era, an all-wheel-drive system was developed and tucked in place. The results were magic. Ford produced more than 200 RS200s but the car had two gremlins, it lacked low-end grunt and top-end power.

The RS200 Evolution model was created to keep the rally race versions in the hunt with other WRC cars. The Evolution-spec cars had highly modified BDT-E Ford-Cosworth engines that displaced 2.1 liters and ran a “T-too-big” Garrett turbo. Output was rated at 580 horsepower at 23 psi and outputs in the 750 horsepower range were rumored. The engines suffered from turbo lag and drivers needed to keep them wound up and in their sweet spot to extract maximum potential. Regrettably Group B was discontinued when Henri Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Crestos were killed during the 1986 Tour de Course rally and the Evolution never tasted the thrill of WRC competition. Only 24 RS200s were converted to Evolution specs, making this ride one of the rarest on Forza 3.

1985 Ford RS200 Evolution Gallery