Conceived purely as a Group B rally car, the Ford RS200 was unveiled at the November 1984 Turin Motor Show.

The work of ex-F1 designer Tony Southgate and ex-F1 engineer John Wheeler, its advanced chassis incorporated a central aluminium monocoque cell atop a steel platform with detachable subframes fore and aft.

Suspended by double wishbones and twin-coil over shock absorbers, each wheel was fed power by a highly sophisticated Ferguson Formula (FF) system.

Using a combination of three viscous couplings and a centre diff lock etc, it allowed the torque split between the front and rear wheels to be varied on the move (though, this facility was disabled on road-going variants).

Powered by a mid-mounted turbocharged 1803cc four-cylinder BDT engine, the RS200 carried its five-speed gearbox up front.

While, this arrangement necessitated two propshafts, it also contributed to the car's excellent weight distribution.

Clad in Ghia-styled but Reliant-built 'clamshell' glassfibre bodywork, ...