1986 Ford RS200

Dubbed as the “wildest car to wear a ford badge”, the Ford RS200 is not a car to be tampered with. Following the years of the initiation of a new type of rally class, Ford set out to develop a brand new car — one that would be built solely for the most dangerous autosport in history: Group B.

The production of the RS200 was out of pure necessity; to beat the Audi S1 Quattro, a monster that trampled every race in sight. The Quattro dominated the world-famous Pikes Peak hill climb, setting a new world record, pushing the Ford rally team to raise their stakes and build a new legend. Ford was currently using their 1700T, a rear-wheel-drive platform that was deemed unfit for the neck-break speeds of Group B rally due to problematic production and failure to keep up with its competitors: Audi and Peugeot. Thus, the RS200 was born, a product of a competitive drive to beat the best in rally.

The new 1984 RS200 would come on an all-wheel-drive platform, much like the S1 Quattro. The RS was equipped with a 600+ horsepower powerplant — although some rumor that it was actually fitted with over 800 horsepower — to blast the car to 60 mph in about 3.8 seconds, with more powerful evolution models rumored to reach 60 in just over 2 seconds. To give a modern comparison, an evolution RS200 would have a faster acceleration than a Bugatti Chiron, Ferrari Laferrari, and Lamborghini Huracan; it could race on roads these supercars couldn’t even drive on without scraping their bumpers.

Today, finding an RS200 in the wild is like coming across an endangered animal. You know they’re out there, but you haven’t and probably will never see one in real life. This rally legend now lives only in museums and garages of the richest rally enthusiasts in the world.