Ford’s RS200 Evolution had quite an up-and-down career path, yet it remains one of the raddest cars to ever go rallying, mostly because FoMoCo took a different approach when building it compared to what Audi and Lancia were doing.

As Evo points out, the rally racer did receive some 900 run-of-the-mill Ford parts but the other 2000 were completely different than anything ever seen in a FoMoCo vehicle before. This also helped the RS200 distinguish itself visually with a little help from Ghia, who penned the fiberglass body.

It was this visual craziness that made the RS200 a rally crowd favorite. Of course, it was no slouch, either, because racecar. After all, Ford commissioned British engineer and F1 designer Tony Southgate and fellow engineer John Wheeler to develop the chassis, with power coming from a 1.8-liter Cosworth-sourced four-cylinder mill.

The mid-mounted engine cranked out 444 horsepower at 8,000 rpm and 361 pound-feet of torque at 5,500 rpm. Road-going models were toned down a notch or two, delivering just 246 horsepower and 215 pound-feet. 0-60 took 2.8 seconds in the race car and five seconds flat in the road-going version thanks to an AWD setup with three limited-slip differentials – front, center, and rear.

1986 Ford RS200 Evolution specifications

The 1986 Ford RS200 Evolution for sale on Bring a Trailer

Of the about 200 RS200s built, 24 were converted to Evolution spec. These had a tweaked suspension, better brakes, and a larger 2.1-liter version of the initial Cosworth engine that could now deliver more than 500 horsepower.

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The car is currently located in Oceanside, California, where it has lived for the past three years after being imported from Norway.