FORD

Escort RS Cosworth

The Ford Escort RS Cosworth was the spiritual and mechanical successor to the legendary Sierra RS Cosworth, created so that Ford could homologate a compact, four-wheel-drive weapon for Group A rallying. Although it wore the bodyshell of the fifth-generation European Ford Escort, the Ford Escort RS Cosworth was in fact built on a shortened Sierra Cosworth 4x4 floorpan, and the cars were hand-assembled by the coachbuilder Karmann at its facility in Rheine, Germany. At its heart sat the turbocharged 2.0-litre Cosworth YBT four-cylinder engine producing 227 horsepower, driving all four wheels and giving the Ford Escort RS Cosworth shattering point-to-point pace. The car was instantly recognisable thanks to its enormous twin-plane "whale-tail" rear spoiler, a feature that became the defining image of the Ford Escort RS Cosworth. Production began on 19 February 1992, and the first 2,500 cars built before 1 January 1993 were the most hardcore homologation versions, fitted with the large Garrett T34 turbocharger and known to enthusiasts as the "big turbo" cars. Later versions adopted a smaller, more responsive turbo and, from 1994, a Ford EEC-IV engine management system. In the hands of drivers like Carlos Sainz and Francois Delecour, the Ford Escort RS Cosworth became a front-running force in the World Rally Championship between 1993 and 1998. When the last car left Karmann on 12 January 1996, exactly 7,145 examples of the Ford Escort RS Cosworth had been built, and today this turbocharged icon is one of the most collectible fast Fords ever made.