RS200, behind the scenes
Discussion
Read a magazine interview a while back that mentioned a fire in the Reliant factory.
It was next door to where the many unsold RS200s were being stored.
The guy said the RS200s were proving so hard to sell at the time, he didn't know weather to push them into the fire or away from it!
Awesome car.. and great pictures. This is why I love Pistonheads. Thanks for sharing.
It was next door to where the many unsold RS200s were being stored.
The guy said the RS200s were proving so hard to sell at the time, he didn't know weather to push them into the fire or away from it!
Awesome car.. and great pictures. This is why I love Pistonheads. Thanks for sharing.
TheRoadWarrior said:
Good pictures
I never understood the whole dual-shock thing with the RS200... can anybody explain what the benefits are and how they outweigh the extra weight of having 2 springs/dampers/bushes etc?
Extra beef to cope with the mid-mounted engine combined with an ultra light-weight chassis?I never understood the whole dual-shock thing with the RS200... can anybody explain what the benefits are and how they outweigh the extra weight of having 2 springs/dampers/bushes etc?
I may be way wide of the mark there though. Just a hunch.
My old man was quite involved in this as at the time Ford were looking to make a higher volume, cheaper version of this with 2wd and a mid mounted Yamaha V6 from the Ford Taurus SHO. It got reasonably well advanced before they canned the program. GN34 was the program name IIRC. Shame as it would have been a cracking car.
The team on this also got taken round Boreham test track in the RS200 with Stig Blomquist.
The team on this also got taken round Boreham test track in the RS200 with Stig Blomquist.
MX7 said:
TheRoadWarrior said:
Good pictures
I never understood the whole dual-shock thing with the RS200... can anybody explain what the benefits are and how they outweigh the extra weight of having 2 springs/dampers/bushes etc?
Not sure, but possibly to counter a failure from one.I never understood the whole dual-shock thing with the RS200... can anybody explain what the benefits are and how they outweigh the extra weight of having 2 springs/dampers/bushes etc?
TVR Moneypit said:
mat205125 said:
Right at the top of my lottery list, aslong with an Eggenberger RS500 
A Rouse or Dick Johnson Cossie for me please 
Being born in the late 70's and being a fan of Mark Lovell and Stig Blomqvist, the RS200 was always my favourite Groupe B car.
OP; Many thanks for the pictures and the story. I'm very suprised that engineers from BL and Lancia paid the factory a visit. BL I can kinda understand, British firm, British engineers, based in Midlands etc, but Lancia????
seems odd considering the rapid development and secrecy involved in projects such as these.
im just waiting for s line to comment about the quattro
unpc said:
My old man was quite involved in this as at the time Ford were looking to make a higher volume, cheaper version of this with 2wd and a mid mounted Yamaha V6 from the Ford Taurus SHO. It got reasonably well advanced before they canned the program. GN34 was the program name IIRC. Shame as it would have been a cracking car.
The team on this also got taken round Boreham test track in the RS200 with Stig Blomquist.
ahhh he did mention a track day! that’s when they got given the memorabilia such as the jackets and hats etc, they really got the production team motivated, so much so that in the summer months they were working nearly 18 hours a day! Obviously the brazier and strike approach adopted by BL at the time was the wrong route! The team on this also got taken round Boreham test track in the RS200 with Stig Blomquist.
when i picked the photos up from him the other day he was telling me about how the ford guys would come in and just attack a chassis under the watchful eyes of the team manager like a bunch of piranhas, changing the centre diff in under 5 mins, replacing whole corners of the suspension in the blink of an eye.
Amazing pics especially since they come from someone who worked at the Tamworth plant.
I love the one showing an RS20 with 'Car 200' … Maybe Reliant / Ford were trying a bit too hard to prove 200 had been built … because it was reasonably well known in the GroupB club that about 144 or so RS200s were madeup as finished cars, yet 200 were required for homologation purposes. There might have been 200 sets of bits though.
Legend has it that when the FIA inspectors turned up to check 200 had been put together, various sheds at Tamworth were packed with them but not all in one spot, but in between checking the management took the inspectors out for lunch or some such. During that break the cars were apparently shuffled around with previously counted cars rolled into unchecked sheds ! Some of the cars were apparently little more than rolling chassis too.
Richard - does your mate who worked at the Tamworth site have recollection of what actually happened ? It would be great to find out what really happened !
I went up to the Tamworth factory before buying mine, and noticed they had a few original RS200 's in colours other than white, namely red, blue and yellow. Plus you could opt for the whole rally car decal kit with blue stripes and light pod on the front.
Anyway here's some more pics from back in the day, and one showing my RS going up the hill at Goodwood :-
I love the one showing an RS20 with 'Car 200' … Maybe Reliant / Ford were trying a bit too hard to prove 200 had been built
… because it was reasonably well known in the GroupB club that about 144 or so RS200s were madeup as finished cars, yet 200 were required for homologation purposes. There might have been 200 sets of bits though.Legend has it that when the FIA inspectors turned up to check 200 had been put together, various sheds at Tamworth were packed with them but not all in one spot, but in between checking the management took the inspectors out for lunch or some such. During that break the cars were apparently shuffled around with previously counted cars rolled into unchecked sheds ! Some of the cars were apparently little more than rolling chassis too.
Richard - does your mate who worked at the Tamworth site have recollection of what actually happened ? It would be great to find out what really happened !
I went up to the Tamworth factory before buying mine, and noticed they had a few original RS200 's in colours other than white, namely red, blue and yellow. Plus you could opt for the whole rally car decal kit with blue stripes and light pod on the front.
Anyway here's some more pics from back in the day, and one showing my RS going up the hill at Goodwood :-
guru_1071 said:
do they have the small 'trailer' lights fitted to the chassis so that the car remains 'sort of' legal if the back clamshell gets wreaked during a rally?
I never noticed them. I would guess it's because if the clam is lifted and you're broken down on a dark road you still need the lights/reflector to show to the rear. Carparticus said:
Amazing pics especially since they come from someone who worked at the Tamworth plant.
I love the one showing an RS20 with 'Car 200' … Maybe Reliant / Ford were trying a bit too hard to prove 200 had been built … because it was reasonably well known in the GroupB club that about 144 or so RS200s were madeup as finished cars, yet 200 were required for homologation purposes. There might have been 200 sets of bits though.
Legend has it that when the FIA inspectors turned up to check 200 had been put together, various sheds at Tamworth were packed with them but not all in one spot, but in between checking the management took the inspectors out for lunch or some such. During that break the cars were apparently shuffled around with previously counted cars rolled into unchecked sheds ! Some of the cars were apparently little more than rolling chassis too.
Richard - does your mate who worked at the Tamworth site have recollection of what actually happened ? It would be great to find out what really happened !
haha i bought this subject up with him, in my gleaming eyed optimism i just assumed they built 200 and went home. However he virtually confirmed what you have just said, the cars were counted in the morning at one place (fradley/Alrewas about 15 mins away) then driven to the main reliant premises in two gates in the afternoon, he didn’t comment on total numbers but said not close to 200. It was the staff that drove a lot of these to the other premises and apparently the clutch was a right nightmare, on or off and very stiff. apparently during the 'transfer' of cars the FIA and British Leyland bods were taken out for the afternoon to tour some of the local pubs and restaurants, bringing back some of the champers you can see in the second from last picture before the final count in the main two gates/fazeley factory. after this count they had a celebratory meal I love the one showing an RS20 with 'Car 200' … Maybe Reliant / Ford were trying a bit too hard to prove 200 had been built
… because it was reasonably well known in the GroupB club that about 144 or so RS200s were madeup as finished cars, yet 200 were required for homologation purposes. There might have been 200 sets of bits though.Legend has it that when the FIA inspectors turned up to check 200 had been put together, various sheds at Tamworth were packed with them but not all in one spot, but in between checking the management took the inspectors out for lunch or some such. During that break the cars were apparently shuffled around with previously counted cars rolled into unchecked sheds ! Some of the cars were apparently little more than rolling chassis too.
Richard - does your mate who worked at the Tamworth site have recollection of what actually happened ? It would be great to find out what really happened !
he did however mention to me not to mention any production numbers, though i think its far enough into the history books not to be of worry now
by the way, your car
Munter said:
guru_1071 said:
do they have the small 'trailer' lights fitted to the chassis so that the car remains 'sort of' legal if the back clamshell gets wreaked during a rally?
I never noticed them. I would guess it's because if the clam is lifted and you're broken down on a dark road you still need the lights/reflector to show to the rear. 
Edited by Gareth350 on Thursday 15th July 13:21
TheRoadWarrior said:
Good pictures
I never understood the whole dual-shock thing with the RS200... can anybody explain what the benefits are and how they outweigh the extra weight of having 2 springs/dampers/bushes etc?
a) You get much finer adjustment of the damping as you can just adjust one damper per corner.I never understood the whole dual-shock thing with the RS200... can anybody explain what the benefits are and how they outweigh the extra weight of having 2 springs/dampers/bushes etc?
b) It spreads the load on the dampers to reduce heat buildup, cavitation and damper fade that you experience over really rough ground, especially with the loads and speeds encountered with a car of that pace.
You'll find a lot of UK safari cars/French TT/Dakar and American desert/TT racers are the same.
Our buggy has the dampers paired up at the rear for the same reason if you have a look in readers cars
I love these RS200s, one of my all-time favourites.
One thing did cross my mind just then though - imagine if they'd been badged as Reliants? Obviously there was always an odd schism with Reliant building joke 3-wheelers and credible sports cars and GTs. Maybe this would have given them a hefty shove in the latter direction?
One thing did cross my mind just then though - imagine if they'd been badged as Reliants? Obviously there was always an odd schism with Reliant building joke 3-wheelers and credible sports cars and GTs. Maybe this would have given them a hefty shove in the latter direction?
X-GF neighbour had one of these in his garage when they were new, used to see him clean it and drive it now and again, at the time i know what it was but didn't realize the cost, looking back it must have been all his savings as they only had a 3 bed semi in croydon. Lovely cars and a great story. Thanks for posting
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff