RE: Ford Escort RS1600i: Spotted

[Pericoloso]

markcoznottz said:

Didn't they have extra anti roll bars?

The front one was mounted on a unique ally subframe not fitted to any other model ,including the subsequent RST and there wasn't

one fitted to the rear as standard ,some had one fitted non factory.

[jm28]

JerryF said:

Toyoda said:

I've posted this before, but may be of interest to anyone into this sort of thing.

https://www.thecarwarehouse.co.uk/vehicle/551/ford...

Love the Pajero's on this site website. Thanks for the post.

Someone needs to have a word with them about that massive flag of imperial Japan on the wall. They wouldn’t sell many cars with bloody great nazi swastika there.

[CS Garth]

Great cars.

That said I don’t recall seeing a fast Ford for sale recently with anything over 100k miles in it.

Given 10-15 plus years ago this stuff was shed ish territory most of these cars must have 250k miles on them. Anyone who owns a few old blank service books and an old dealer stamp has the equivalent of a money printing machine.

[J4CKO]

Will never forget being at High Edge Raceway in Buxton, a banger track, and they did a "Spectator time Trial" and gave folk the opportunity to do a few laps against the clock, there was a lad in an RS1600i, he did a warm up lap and then went for his flying lap, and he was flying, it was one of those moments where you think "Wow", followed by "They must really handle if he is going to make it round at that speed", followed by "Oh dear" as he ploughed into the wall, front end was ruined.

He got out and bowed.

[Pericoloso]

I looked at the MOT history of the one I pictured earlier.

Not been tested since I sold it for resto in 2008 and showing miles in the 50s ,so 150,000 as they only had 5 digits.

Last time I read on the specific forum ,the buyer hadn't even started the restoration.....

He was peeved that it didn't have it's original reg ,which I kept and still have ,he only paid 700 for it ,with an MOT and also

another 300 for another car AND all the spares from the 3rd car which I scrapped.

[Jon_S_Rally]

Adore these. Best looking of all the sporty FWD Escorts in my view. Special too, with the unique engine bits, seats and front anti-roll bar etc. Many won't get it, but with prices for other homologation specials rocketing, it's no surprise these are expensive too, especially with the RS badge on it.

[s m]

gforceg said:

s m said:

Yeah, the seats were fantastic



Many a great trip to the coast in convoy with my friend’s RS over Welsh roads along with 205s and 323i - when a couple of others trumped him by going 205 1.6 to 1.9 Gti he evened up the odds by getting a S1 RS Turbo - a lot quicker than 15bho extra would suggest!

I have to say, I'd have wanted the Manta. Always liked them back then (and now).

Yeah, that was mine - underrated car nowadays - have a look at the retrospective review and article in EVO magazine considering it’s road and competition history!!!

[stevesingo]

RS Tax gone mad in the world of the self licking lollipop. Tell each other how much they are worth then get each other to pay it in a circle wk fest.

[firebird350]

Pericoloso said:

J4CKO said:

I only ever drove an XR3i, were these that much different ?

Lots of little details,as the article says,for homologation for rallying,although it had more success on the race track,winning BTCC class,never did much on the rally scene.

Indeed! This was Ford's 2nd attempt at a FWD works rally car ('83 IIRC) - the first was the Mk 1 Fiesta in '79 which failed to impress anyone as a successor to the Gp4 Escort RS1800. Ari Vatanen and Roger Clark drove the Fiestas on the '79 Monte Carlo Rally where they finished 10th and 13th overall respectively (at least they finished the event) but the omens weren't good.

In '83, Ford then tried with the RS1600i with Malcolm Wilson and Louise Aitken-Walker driving the cars in the British Open Rally Championship with a similar lack of success. I believe it was Stuart Turner who then threw in the towel on works FWD rally Fords (around the same time he cancelled the Gp.B RS1700T and the C100).

[Twoshoe]

MDMA . said:

Awesome car. Mine was National day winner from 86-91. 5 years on the trot.

Hate to be pedantic, but isn't that 6 years?!

[MDMA .]

Twoshoe said:

MDMA . said:

Awesome car. Mine was National day winner from 86-91. 5 years on the trot.

Hate to be pedantic, but isn't that 6 years?!

Yes, 6 years (sorry ). All the paperwork went with the car. Can't look back at it now. I'm sure I still have the original factory plates it came with from Stormont Ford? One had a little chip in it so were swapped. Will have a look tonight.

[pikeyboy]

I had one of these reg KTW702Y from 93 to 95. Graphite grey basic spec with wind up windows and no sunroof which was quite rare I think. I'd swapped it for a mk2 XR2.

It wasnt long after I had problems with coil packs and the ECU giving up the ghost though.

I had some good times in that !

[bloomen]

Anything above peanuts for anything with a CVH is incomprehensible to me. Same goes for any mk3 that isn't a Gartrac. Good luck to all anyway.

[viggyp]

bloomen said:

Anything above peanuts for anything with a CVH is incomprehensible to me. Same goes for any mk3 that isn't a Gartrac. Good luck to all anyway.

I do love the RS1600i but I tend to agree. Funny how this is up for mega £££ yet a mint Fiat Strada Abarth 130TC will be lucky to get near £10k yet that engine was actually built at the Abarth factory next to the Lancia 037 and Delta S4 rally cars.

Queue the rust jokes.....

[iSore]

Jon_S_Rally said:

Adore these. Best looking of all the sporty FWD Escorts in my view. Special too, with the unique engine bits, seats and front anti-roll bar etc. Many won't get it, but with prices for other homologation specials rocketing, it's no surprise these are expensive too, especially with the RS badge on it.

30k is RS Cosworth Sierra money and they were a serious car. The CVH Escort was never much more than a shopping trolley. The brakes were terrible as has been mentioned - I fitted the Ford kit of reinforcing plates to the bulkhead to prevent the metal from flexing. That's how good they really were.

[iSore]

viggyp said:

I do love the RS1600i but I tend to agree. Funny how this is up for mega £££ yet a mint Fiat Strada Abarth 130TC will be lucky to get near £10k yet that engine was actually built at the Abarth factory next to the Lancia 037 and Delta S4 rally cars.

Queue the rust jokes.....

I drove one of those, once. It belonged to an Italian lad who caned it everywhere. Christ they were just visceral to drive, pure excitement.

Does 30k still buy a solid usable Integrale?

[J4CKO]

viggyp said:

bloomen said:

Anything above peanuts for anything with a CVH is incomprehensible to me. Same goes for any mk3 that isn't a Gartrac. Good luck to all anyway.

I do love the RS1600i but I tend to agree. Funny how this is up for mega £££ yet a mint Fiat Strada Abarth 130TC will be lucky to get near £10k yet that engine was actually built at the Abarth factory next to the Lancia 037 and Delta S4 rally cars.

Queue the rust jokes.....

Not like these were immune to rust, remember seeing something whee someone bought one that had been sat outside, they dragged it out of its resting place and the whole front fell off.

I know what bloomen means, but its just based on it being a rare version of a very popular car, the folk that wanted one or had one are now older and have more money along with less days left on this earth.

I have long since learnt that objectivity goes out of the window when nostalgia is involved, Mk3's at the time were never held in such high regard as Mk1's and MK2's but they had plenty of owners and a following, depends a lot on your age and what you had.

Once that memory is burnt in that the Escort RS1600i is desirable, even if you know its got a CVH engine and probably isnt all that in the scheme of things, it doesnt matter, its there and if you see one, even a photo like in this article, the original memories formed at the time come flooding back.

I get it a little bit with the RS1600i, but much more with Capri Injections and Sierra Cosworths (preferably a 3 door in Moonstone Blue), same deal with Chicken and Mushroom Pot Noodles, Technic Lego, Commodore 64's and Adidas LA trainers, things I yearned for as a kid.

Just because it doesn't mean much to you, doesn't mean someone else doesn't have that frisson when they see something, things that leave you cold or you are totally ambivalent about can be someone elses prized item.

So, thirty grand is a lot of money, just means its out of reach for a lot of folk who may harbour a desire, but not for those with the cash available, its not that mad as its going to bring some enjoyment and money makes nothing in the bank, it should at least not lose any, maybe make some more.

Things that are familiar and mundane now dwindle away, and by the time you realise you want something, they have all but disappeared and the prices have gone up.

[tiptreegeek]

JD2329 said:

Only 159 XR3is are left?!!!
Doesn't seem that long ago they were everywhere...oh dear, perhaps it was...

I didn't help the attrition rate of them - wrote 2 MK3's off in within 6 months of each other, scrapped one (rust, rust & more rust) & had the engine go on a MK4

[s m]

iSore said:

Jon_S_Rally said:

Adore these. Best looking of all the sporty FWD Escorts in my view. Special too, with the unique engine bits, seats and front anti-roll bar etc. Many won't get it, but with prices for other homologation specials rocketing, it's no surprise these are expensive too, especially with the RS badge on it.

30k is RS Cosworth Sierra money and they were a serious car. The CVH Escort was never much more than a shopping trolley. The brakes were terrible as has been mentioned - I fitted the Ford kit of reinforcing plates to the bulkhead to prevent the metal from flexing. That's how good they really were.

Lots of German cars converted to lhd had that problem too to be fair - Mk1 Golf Gti had crap brakes because of the lhd linkageand a tendency for the clutch cable to saw through the bulkhead unless strengthened

[viggyp]

iSore said:

viggyp said:

I do love the RS1600i but I tend to agree. Funny how this is up for mega £££ yet a mint Fiat Strada Abarth 130TC will be lucky to get near £10k yet that engine was actually built at the Abarth factory next to the Lancia 037 and Delta S4 rally cars.

Queue the rust jokes.....

I drove one of those, once. It belonged to an Italian lad who caned it everywhere. Christ they were just visceral to drive, pure excitement.

Does 30k still buy a solid usable Integrale?

£30K-£45K but the ones at the upper end of that price scale are usually for sale for a very long time.