1983 Ford Escort RS1600i

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‘A116 RUG’ has been in the vendor’s care for some 18 months, during which time he has been recommissioning and making minor improvements to what appears to be a notably straight, sound example, that had previously spent a number of years in dry storage. He tells us that it is one of only 820 righthand drive RS1600is produced in black, and notes that it is still equipped with its original bodyshell, not to mention the AFT twin coil electronic ignition that was unique to these cars when new. The Escort is in very presentable order inside and out, aside of some mild cracking of the facia, and the vendor currently regards the four-cylinder CVH engine, five-speed manual transmission, three-door bodywork, paintwork and grey velour upholstery as all being in ‘good’ condition. He is now offering the fast Ford complete with period-correct RS alloy wheels shod with Toyo Proxes tyres, glass sunroof, original Ford push-button radio/cassette player, Fischer C-Box cassette store, plus a very recent MOT certificate that will remain valid until February 10 next year.
The RS1600i was a homologation special developed by Ford in Germany to compete in Group N and Group A touring car races. The production requirement of motorsport’s governing body was for 5,000 examples but, due to high demand from the public, 8,659 were eventually produced, around 2,600 of which were built especially for the UK market. The RS1600i was the first RS model to drive from the front end, the first production Ford to be equipped with computer-controlled ignition, and the first Escort to feature fuel injection. It was based on the third generation Escort Ghia, though given a sporting rather than luxury interior complete with Recaro seats. The main changes were to the 1597cc CVH engine, the major upgrade to which was the fitment of Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection, as previously found in Ford’s 2.8i Capri and Granada models.
In summary:
• An apparently very original 95,750-mile example
• Said to be one of only 820 RHD RS1600is produced in black
• Comes with a long MOT valid to February 9 next year