1985 Ford RS200 Evolution

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 12, 2016

Photo – RM Sotheby’s

We love to feature supercars on this site alongside all kinds of classics and this definitely qualifies as a supercar. Group B rally cars from the 1980s were the most extreme rally cars ever built. And when manufacturers churned out road-going versions, well, things got crazy.

How crazy? How about 600 horsepower from a turbocharged 2.1-liter straight-four. In a road car! The body is fiberglass, it’s mid-engined, and features four-wheel drive. That combo is good for a 0-60 mph sprint in around three seconds. This particular car has only 450 kilometers on it since new.

Ford was required to build 200 of these to homologate the car for racing. So they did. The major difference between the race and road cars is the interior. It’s actually kind of nice here. Of the 200 built, 20 (and later four more for a total of 24) were converted into “Evolution” spec cars. This included a huge power boost (up from 250 horsepower) thanks to the larger, 2.1-liter engine. It also has better brakes and suspension. It’s an awesome, 1980s-era supercar. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $522,500.

1988 Ford RS200

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Silverstone, U.K. | May 16, 2012

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Ford was a little late to the Group B Rally party in the mid-1980s. Audi and Peugeot had been dominating the series for years by the time Ford rolled in with their RS200. By the time it was introduced in 1984, it had been 20 years since Ford built a vehicle as awesome and performance-capable as the RS200 (the GT40). This car has a space frame chassis, four-wheel drive and a mid-mounted 1.8-liter turbocharged straight-four making 250 horsepower on the road and somewhere between 350 and 450 in race trim. Later, the displacement would be bumped up to 2.1-liters and horsepower would go upwards of 650!

Unfortunately for Ford, shortly after their arrival on the scene, things would go horribly wrong. At the 1986 Portuguese Rally, an RS200 would go careening into the crowd, killing three spectators. Another RS200 would crash at a later event, killing the co-driver. So after only one year of serious competition, the RS200 – and Group B Rallying in general – were finished.

However, fortune shines on the enthusiast as Group B rules dictated that the cars must be homologated for the road with construction of 200 road-going versions of whatever outlandish car the manufacturers decided to race. Sources differ on how many actually were sold as street models but it seems to range from 140 to 220. It is known that 24 of these cars were upgraded to “Evo” specs, which are a bit more powerful (580 horsepower, and 0-60 mph in about 3.0 seconds).

This is one of the road cars, chassis 118, and it has a few rally-inspired extras on it. When it was freshened in 2010, the engine was upgraded to 2.0-liters and 550 horsepower, closer to the Evo’s specs of 580. It only has 1,850 original miles. These are rare and awesome cars – dare I say Ford has not built a car this awesome since – the GT included. The pre-sale estimate is between $185,000-$210,000. For the complete catalog description, click here. And for more of Silverstone’s Spring Sale, click here.

Update: Not sold.