GOOD SPORTS

Caught between the lairy Escort Mk2s and the giant-killing Sierra Cosworth, the front-wheel-drive Escort RS1600i and RS Turbo had their day on the track – and on the road, too

- Ben Barry

Picture Ford's A homologation specials from the 1980s and it's no wonder the Sierra RS Cosworth springs to mind, especially given the RS500's dominance in Touring Car racing. The Escort Mk3 gets a little lost in that context, but it too spawned Group A homologation derivatives, with the RS1600i and subsequent RS Turbo marking Ford's entry into the newly established category.

Though once dismissed by fans of rear-wheel-drive Fords, the best road cars can today command over £40,000 and have long been highly sought after by RS enthusiasts (not to mention something of a weakness for yours truly), while the race cars enjoy an impressive championship-winning pedigree. Four decades have passed since both raced in the British Saloon Car Championship, and we're revisiting them with two immaculate road-going examples supplied by Rutland-based Car-Iconics. We'll also be learning more about the motorsport programme from a man who prepared and raced both: Richard Longman.

Ford's European motorsport operations were undergoing a period of unprecedented change at the dawn of the 1980s. The Blue Oval had tactically pulled out of rallying the Mk2 Escort to regroup for Group B regulations, but got off to a false start when the Mk3 Escort-based RS1700T was cancelled. Its incoming replacement, the RS200, would share almost nothing with the rest of the lineup but did stand a chance of beating the Audi quattro. And, while that car's turbocharging and all-wheel drive later evolved and filtered down into the (initially RWD) Sierra RS Cosworth and Sapphire Cosworth, those cars were still a few years distant. Into this competition vacuum the first RS-badged Mk3 Escorts arrived.