In celebration of the iconic RS200‘s 40 years on this planet English firm Boreham has contracted with Ford to revive the Group B rally competitor as an officially licensed new nostalgia monster. Boreham Motorworks will “produce and remaster” the RS200 in limited numbers, and further Ford icons are slated to receive the same treatment in the near future. If you’ve always wanted an RS200, but were waiting for one with modern LED headlights, this is your chance.
Starting in 1984, Ford entered this absurd mid-engine four-wheel-drive fiberglass lightweight racer in rally competition as a homologation special to take on the likes of Audi’s iconic Quattro. The RS200 was well suited to rally with superior balance and grip, but its 1.8-liter engine was underpowered and laggy. Due to a pair of deadly crashes in RS200s, Group B was effectively scrapped at the end of the 1986 season before the more powerful 2.1-liter RS200 Evo could make its competition debut.
Boreham says it will be building these new RS200s from scratch in a ground-up redesign, though will be maintaining enough of the RS200 DNA to make nostalgic high-end car collectors happy. The fiberglass body will likely be swapped for carbon fiber, a more powerful and modern engine will likely be employed, and there are sure to be modern computer controls for the all-wheel drive system. It’ll still look like an RS200, but it’s almost certainly going to be faster and lighter.
Boreham is also working on a “period sympathetic” revival of the famed Escort Mexico, another Ford rally hero. And “at least five further iconic Ford vehicles” will follow these two, so expect to see Ford-supported revivals of important Ford racers like the GT40, Lotus Cortina, and Mustang Boss 302.
