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RS Heritage

"One of the greatest things about any new RS is the heritage and pedigree behind it. The new Focus RS is as much a car for driving enthusiasts as every one before it and true to the core RS principles of innovative engineering, high-performance and affordability."

Jost Capito, Director, Global Performance Vehicles
& Motorsport Business Development

In 1968, man had not yet landed on the moon, Concorde had not yet flown and the newly-created Ford of Europe had just delivered its first car, the Ford Escort.

Against this backdrop, the Ford RS marque was born quietly, in Germany. The 15M RS (P6), 17M RS and 20M RS (P7), all began production in March 1968 and were the first ever Ford vehicles to carry the RS name, though none carried the badge.

It was not until two years later in 1970 that Ford - inspired by early success in "Rallye Sport" - introduced its first European RS performance car, the Escort RS 1600. The RS identity has been an important part of Ford's sporting image ever since.

In the 40 years since its first appearance, the RS marque has been applied to just 22 of the most special individual Ford road cars, each and every one offering stand-out performance and value for money.

RS Fords have been built in many different forms. They have been front-engined or mid-engined; all-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive or front-wheel-drive; and with four-cylinder or six-cylinder, normally-aspirated or turbocharged engines.

Most have employed wind-tunnel testing to evolve aerodynamic features, from Sierra and Escort RS Cosworths right up to new Focus RS.

Yet, all have pushed out the boundaries of technology and virtually all have been successful in motorsport. As a result, each has held a unique place in its market and shared in a proud sporting pedigree.

The original Ford RS - the Escort RS1600 - was the first 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, UK.

Like many subsequent RS models, the RS1600 found worldwide success in races and rallies, such as the 1972 East African Safari rally and the 1974 European Touring Car Championship.

Elsewhere, Ford Capri RS2600 and RS3100 models were not only high-powered flagship versions of Ford's best-selling coupé range, but also won scores of races, including the 1971 and 1972 European Touring car Championships.

In the late 1970s, the quad-headlamp RS2000 became the best-selling RS model to date. Escort RS1800s won the 1979 World Rally Championship for Makes, and provided power for both Bjorn Waldegard (1979) and Ari Vatanen (1981) to win their respective Drivers' titles.

In the 1980s, the first front-wheel-drive Ford RS, the Escort 1600i, was the first to use fuel-injection and a five-speed gearbox, while the Escort RS Turbo was the first to use a turbocharged engine and a limited-slip differential.

The mid-engined RS200, of which only 200 were produced between 1984 and 1986, was intended for Group B rallying and featured a race-bred aluminium honeycomb, steel chassis, carbon and Kevlar-fibre upper structure, a turbocharged Cosworth BDT engine and all-wheel-drive. Strikingly styled by Ghia, the RS200 was the most exclusive and most expensive Ford RS ever sold. In the years since, it has also been a familiar presence in the sport of rallycross.

In the late 1980s, the Cosworth YB-powered, 150mph Sierra RS Cosworth range became successful as fast, value-for-money road cars, while the RS500 derivatives were so dominant in motorsport that entire Championships had to be re-cast to make sure they did not win every race.

Even so, the 500bhp RS500 race cars won the 1987 World Touring Car Championship and the 1988 European Touring Car Championship.

The following decade saw the Escort RS Cosworth return Ford to the top of rally standings, including victory in the 1994 Monte Carlo Rally - inspiring the birth of the 1990s Escort RS Cosworth road cars. It also led onto 1997-1998 Escort World Rally Car, which brought the Escort rallying pedigree to a victorious close.

Two high performance versions of the front-wheel-drive Fiesta were also created in this period - the RS Turbo and RS1800, the latter with the award-winning Zetec 16-valve, twin-cam engine. Later, there were distinctive front-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive Escort RS2000 models.

Then came Ford of Europe's design and engineering revolution that created the Ford Focus, in 1998. The RS name made a welcome return in 2002 on the first-generation, 215PS Focus RS, which continued the Ford RS pedigree, using a turbocharged Duratec 2.0-litre engine and limited slip differential to create a ‘World Rally car for the road' experience.

Its strictly limited-edition, 4,501 production run sold out rapidly, proving the enduring demand for high-performance Fords across Europe - a demand which was met in 2009 by the launch of the all-new, 305 PS Ford Focus RS.