1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo Series 1

The Escort RS Turbo Series 1 was specifically developed by Ford’s Special Vehicle Engineering team to set new standards in 'Group N' and 'Group A' motorsport events, and was quickly dubbed 'the car to beat'. Ford initially planned to build 5,000 examples, the minimum number required for Homologation in 'Group A', however a total of 8,604 were built due to increased demand. The car was greeted with huge enthusiasm and was only sold through official Rallye Sport dealers.

The much-revered Series 1 cars utilised a 1,600cc CVH unit modified to suit the higher loads and the application of a turbocharger. Computerised fuel-injection and state-of-the-art engine management (in 1986) incorporating boost control resulted in a healthy 132bhp and offered reasonably lag-free acceleration with 0-62mph, taking 8.2 seconds on the way to around 125mph. It was the first front-wheel drive road car in the world to use a compact viscous-coupling design LSD instead of a normal mechanical LSD, which greatly improved cornering and drivability.

Aesthetically, the RS Turbo was given a distinctive sporty appearance with a body-coloured front grille, bumpers and aerodynamic aids. Unusually, there was only one choice of finish, Diamond White, and the purposeful interior was trimmed in a combination of Monza and Cashmere fabrics and Recaro LS bucket seats were fitted as standard.

The car presented here is a 1985 Escort RS Turbo Custom S1, originally supplied new through the well-established Ford dealership Bryan Brothers Ltd. of Bristol (window stickers and a tax disc holder still testify) and came fitted with the factory-specified ‘Custom Pack’ which included electric windows, central locking, tilt/slide glass sunroof and opening rear quarter windows. It has covered just 27,019 miles from new and was purchased by our vendor from his friend back in 2013.

Over the years, it has been owned and enjoyed by members of the RS Owners Club, benefiting from the care and attention which comes with this sort of dutiful ownership. In 2010, it was inspected by the RSOC who, based on its condition and information supplied, wrote a letter to say that its (then) mileage of 25,953 miles was wholly commensurate with its original condition.

Our vendor tells us 'There have never been any repairs or welding on the car due to corrosion/rot, it’s all extremely solid, as it has always been very well-undersealed. In recent years, the car had a full/professional respray (being stripped to the bare shell in preparation). I also had all the running gear and suspension components painted (as they were just starting to look a bit tired) and I wanted it all clean and tidy. You can see on the suspension arms that they are not all marled from existing corrosion pits, they are all original just repainted. It still has the original S1 shocks!'

This, now highly collectable, RS is accompanied by a decent history file and, remarkably, its original Michelin MXV 195/50 VR15 tyres, exhaust and plug leads, plus both keys and its original/complete bookpack. This car has obviously always been very well-maintained, stored to the highest standards and used infrequently, definitely one for the collector!