Classified of the week: Ford RS200

In its day, the Ford RS200 was a bit of a flop. It was built to compete in Group B rallying, but in its first season (1986) driver Joaquim Santos spun one into the undergrowth at Rally Portugal, killing three spectators and injuring 31. After the deaths of Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto soon after, Group B cars were outlawed for the 1987 WRC. 

That left Ford, which had built 200 of the things to comply with homologation rules, with a bit of a problem. Some ended up in Rallycross, while others competed in hillclimbs like Pikes Peak. Successes were had. One even raced – admittedly not very well – in the IMSA series. Some were dismantled for spares, and unsold competition cars were rebuilt as road cars and sold off cheap. 

In road-going trim the AWD, mid-engined RS200 made about 250bhp from its turbocharged 1.8-litre engine, making them good for 60mph in less than four seconds (exact figures vary). More powerful 2.1-litre ‘Evo’ cars, which had upwards of 600bhp (depends on how much you’d turned up the turbo…) are said to be able to hit 60 in a little over two seconds. 

RS200s don’t come up for sale that often. This one may not have the awesome livery of the car pictured, but it's rather interesting nonetheless. It first popped up on eBay this summer, but failed to meet its reserve. Now it’s for sale again, for £210,000. The seller claims it’s one of the least used RS200s ever, with just over 1,900km on its odometer, and one of the last ever sold. Imported into the US in the Nineties by a collector, the RS currently resides in Texas as part of its third owner’s no doubt extensive collection. 

Fancy it?