One to Buy: 1980 British Championship-winning Rothmans Rally Team Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800 Gr.4
/
Of all the legendary Ford Escorts to have have gone rallying, arguably the most iconic were the Rothmans-backed Mk2s built by David Sutton’s renowned outfit that appeared during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Having campaigned the Group 4 RS1800 in 1978 and ‘79, Sutton’s Daventry-based team ultimately became Ford’s quasi-works outfit between 1980 and ‘81 after Blue Oval management decided to focus on developing a Mk3-based Escort for the future.
Against the odds, Ari Vatanen went on to become 1980 British Rally Champion driving one of the Rothmans RS1800s, a feat eclipsed in 1981 when the Flying Finn was crowned World Rally Champion. To date, the David Sutton squad remains the only privateer outfit to have achieved this feat.
Currenly on offer at the Duncan Hamilton ROFGO showroom in Micheldever, Hampshire, is an Escort RS1800 used by Ari Vatanen throughout those famous 1980 and ‘81 campaigns: EUW 938V.
1980 saw the car driven to victory on the Welsh Rally while Vatanen and his co-driver, Dave Richards, also collected a quintet of second place finishes en route to that year’s title.
In 1981, EUW 938V took its second Welsh Rally win having placed second on the Maspalomas Rally a few weeks prior. After this, Rothmans team-mates Pentti Airikkala and Risto Virtanen used the car for a trio of outings scoring a best finish of seventh. In 1983, the RS1800 was driven to the German Rally Championship title by new owner, Walter Smolej.
Now offered in remarkably original restored condition, EUW 938V represents perhaps the pinnacle of Ford’s rally involvement with the Escort.
