The car can be seen quite a lot on the www but mainly with a plate reading 1 UFO on it.
An HPI check on the index E900BAP on 18/1/2004 gave:-
Manufacturer Ford
Model RS 200 4WD
Body type
Colour White
Fuel type Petrol
Date manufactured 31 December 1987
Number of previous owners 1
Last owner change 19 March 1993
I read some articles and they suggest the car was owned by Archie McClean having been owned by Chris Owen.
In 2008 I finally made contact Archie (after loosing some of his emails - sorry !) - It was after I read this thread on Pistonheads...
"Since this is a Geoff Page appreciation thread, I'd thought I'd chip in. The guys a legend in RS200 circles. He's always been around the periphery of freaky engines with F1 bits added, one off whacky monster powered specials, and Group B cars. Very handy bloke to know.
He used to look after my old RS200 Evolution back in the day. I owned it from 1992 through to 2002. Had no intention of selling it until I took I was invited to some Ford Owners Silverstone Track to drive it around the circuit with the wick turned up and demo it to the crows blah blah. At the time the engine had a obviously genuine 580bhp, geared for about 160mph in 5th, and it really flew. Remember these things were 4wd and weighted only 1000kg or so. Missile would be an understatement. Best lap I ever did around the grand prix circuit was 1min 55sec's … which was about 25secs behind contemporary F1's IIRC, and this was a car I drove home afterwards ! The suspension was remarkably compliant and supple, but the engine and box were brutal. Driving one was a real fix, and as good as a workout. Ahh, them were the days !
It was bought by an American bloke who walked out the crowd into the paddock area, and offered me a stupid amount of cash for it. Turns out he had just sold a gazzillion shares in a dot.com float, but he really had no fking idea what he was buying and more or less destroyed the engine within days of ownership.
I've included a few pics below, and a scan of a 'forgotten' 1986 Autocar 'road test' on an RS200 driven by a certain Stiq Blomqvist. Subject car was only 420bhp , and low geared, but it recorded a best 0-60 of 2.6s, 0-100mph in 7.1s. And this was 1986. Obviously things have come on a long way since then, but I take my hat of to the Group B drivers who would pilot these machines up Pikes Peak or through icy forest stages on the 1980's RAC rallies with rigid trees and rocks inches to each side. These guys made F1 drivers look like safety conscious pussies"
I have lost some of my old emails but the new owner basically drove it from the UK to the Nurburgring when he screwed the engine. It then came back to Essex and into the hands of the new owner (SM) who has stripped it down to nothing and re-built it piece by piece ever since.
Sorry Archie for not updating this sooner and thanks for your help with filling in the gaps !
In June 2009, working on the info Archie had given me I found (TvD) who gave me some info about the driver at the ring...
"Hi Justin,
I remember that a friend of mine - who lived in the UK at the time - bought this car and took it to the Nurburgring. It lasted for one lap, and then developed "a problem" This is one of the pics I took that day, I think it was in 2002, The snow wasn't helping. Richard Squires (the owner) then moved back to Australia, and I think he sold the car at that time.
I am just trying to find Richard now to complete the story
In November 2009 I found a folder on my machine of images of #124 marked as Castle Combe - I am pretty sure someone emailed me them for my book that I was going to write and I had tucked them away for that but now here they are, for the first time on the www as far as I can tell
Nov 2021 - Sadly the owner (SM) lost his battle with cancer.
Jan 2023 - (OM) made contact to help with the story, "Hi Justin, I just happened across an old forum post of yours on rs200.org about E900BAP and Richard Squire. He was originally Welsh, not American. The problem it developed at the Nürburgring was the eyelets at the top of the dampers coming unscrewed, and it was me that spotted and fixed it! Richard in return took me for a passenger lap in that absolute missile of a car, showing me where it would snap sideways with heavy throttle when already doing 130mph on the finish straight, and promised me a drive the following day - but it snowed - and the circuit closed. I'm the chap with the badly dyed yellowy blonde hair in the photographs... My excuse is I would have been around 23 at the time."
justin.smith@rs200.org
Images