The History of RS

Thirty years ago, in 1970, Ford introduced its first-ever RS-badged car, the Escort RS1600. The RS (Rallye Sport) identity has been an important part of Ford's sporting image ever since. Over the years the Rallye Sport name has been applied to 19 spectacular road car models, which often proved their point by winning in races, rallies, in rallycross and in the marketplace. The 'RS' badge has never been applied lightly, for each and every model and derivative has offered outstanding performance, roadholding, vehicle safety and value for money. RS-badged Fords have always shared a proud sporting tradition and have been built in many different forms. There have been front-engined or mid-engined types, front-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive cars, with four-cylinder or six-cylinder normally-aspirated or turbocharged engines. Many have employed wind tunnel testing to evolve innovative aerodynamic features such as the rear aerofoils fitted to Sierra and Escort RS Cosworths. All have pushed out the boundaries of technology and all have been successful in motorsport. The original RS-badged Ford - the Escort RS1600, was the first-ever Ford to use a 16-valve twin-overhead-camshaft engine and the first to be assembled in the new Advanced Vehicle Operation factory at Aveley in Essex. It also became the first Ford model to be sold through an expanding network of specialised Rallye Sport dealerships. Ford In Motorsport Like many of the RS models which followed, the RS1600 (and its close relation, the single-cam engined RS2000) found worldwide success in races and rallies such as the East African Safari rally of 1972, three RAC rallies, and the European Touring Car Championship of 1974. Ford Capri RS2600 and RS3100 models were not only high-powered flagship versions of Ford's best-selling coupe range but they also won scores of races including the European Touring car Championships of 1971 and 1972. In the late 1970s the uniquely-styled quad-headlamp RS2000 became the best-selling RS model of all time. Escort RS1800s won more rallies than any other British car, won the World Rally Championship for Makes in 1979, and provided power for both Bjorn Waldegard (1979) and Ari Vatanen (1981) to win the Drivers' titles. In the 1980s the front-wheel-drive RS1600i was the first Escort to use a fuel-injected engine and the first to use a five-speed gearbox, while the Escort RS Turbo was the first to use a turbocharged engine and a viscous-coupling limited-slip differential. Both cars were successful in Touring Car racing, especially the RS Turbo, whose 1.6-litre engine could produce up to 270bhp. The mid-engined RS200, of which only 200 cars were ever made between 1984 and 1986, was intended for Group B rallying, and featured a race-bred steel and carbon-fibre chassis, a turbocharged Cosworth BDT engine and four-wheel-drive. Strikingly styled by Ford's Ghia associate company, the RS200 was at once the most exclusive, and the most expensive, RS Ford offered for sale. During the 1980s, the Cosworth YB-engined 150mph Sierra RS Cosworth family became successful as fast, value-for-money, road cars, while the RS500 derivatives were so dominant in motor racing that the rules of entire Championships had to be re-cast to make sure they did not win every race. Even so, before this could be done, the 500bhp RS500 race cars won the World Touring Car Championship in 1987, the European Touring Car Championship in 1988, along with hundreds of successes at National level. The final Sierra RS Cosworth was a sophisticated road car with four-wheel-drive, and a shortened version of that platform, along with a 227bhp engine, was used in the Escort RS Cosworth, whose extrovert aerodynamic package ensured positive downforce at all road speeds. In the mid-1990s the Escort RS Cosworth returned Ford to the top of rally standings, including victory in the 1994 Monte Carlo Rally - and it also inspired the birth of the Escort World Rally Car of 1997-1998, which brought that pedigree to a nostalgic close. During the 1990s, two superfast versions of the front-wheel-drive Fiesta were marketed - the RS Turbo with a turbocharged CVH engine, and the RS1800 with the award-winning Zetec 16-valve twin-cam unit. At the same time there were the distinctive front-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive Escort RS2000 models, the first Fords to use the smooth and torquey DOHC 16-valve engine which was later fitted to many Scorpio and Galaxy models. Then, as now, the Rallye Sport brand has been an integral feature of Ford's high performance cars. In 2001, the RS name will make a welcome return, this time on the Ford Focus. This latest addition to the sporty family will continue the tradition of Ford RS high performance vehicles that are developed by motorsport purists for motorsport purists.