In the context of the World Rally Championship, the adoption of Group B regulations for 1982 afforded designers a greater degree of technical latitude than had ever been the case before—or indeed, has been since.

Furthermore, homologation was conditional upon construction of just 200 road-legal variants of any prospective design.

This figure was sufficiently modest to both attract manufacturer interest and to ensure the development of some of the most outrageous “homologation specials” ever produced.

Unlike rivals Audi, Lancia, and Peugeot—all of whom developed cars bearing at least some external similarity to cars from their production ranges—Ford opted for a bespoke, mid-engined behemoth instead: the RS200.

Competitions Director Stuart Turner tasked former BRM, Shadow, and Lotus Formula One designer Tony Southgate with developing the car’s aluminum monocoque chassis and sub-frames, while Chief Engineer John Wheeler coordinated the car’s overall design from Ford’s fabled Boreham h...