Latest news with #rallycar
The Sun
22-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Sun
Impeccably restored Ford Escort kept in same family for 50 years finally sells for staggering 6-figure sum
AN impeccably preserved Ford Escort which was in the same family for nearly 50 years has been sold for a staggering sum. The 1976 Ford Escort Mk II RS 1800 was kept off the road in a barn for most of its life. 4 4 4 The amazing vehicle was purchased in 1977 for an unknown amount but the owner only drove it for ten years. The motor then underwent a restoration and was hidden in a barn for over 35 years. After the owner's recent passing, his widowed wife has put the Ford up for sale at auctioneers Historics, of Iver, Bucks. The exceptionally rare vehicle sparked a bidding war and went under the hammer for a whopping £276,000. His 'pride and joy' was originally registered to the Ford Motor Company and one of just five cars used by Ford as a Press car. There were only 109 examples manufactured all together of the model which enjoyed huge rallying success in the late 70s and early 80s. Its rallying abilities were enhanced by the 1.8-liter Cosworth BDA (Belt Drive A-Type) engine which generated over 240bhp. The lightweight and nimble chassis and suspension of the Mk. II were carried over from its predecessor. Its responsive handling and balance, especially on loose gravel surfaces, made it a driver favourite thanks to its rear-wheel-drive setup. The white car with the small strip of bright and dark blue paint above the wheels has only travelled a total of 24,186 miles, or 500 miles annually on average. Iconic 1965 Ford Racer that starred in Top Gear is so rare only two in the world exist - but could be yours at auction The sought-after Ford has undergone a second revamp before the auction but has to be treated gently due to its low mileage. A Historics spokesperson said: "Beyond its rallying success, the Escort RS1800 Mk II remains a cherished car among enthusiasts and collectors. "Its combination of performance, history, and timeless design continues to captivate fans. "Restored and modified examples are frequently seen in classic car rallies and events, a testament to its enduring legacy. "The car sat in a barn for 35 years with the rebuilt engine sat on a pallet next to the RS1800. "Time had taken its toll and another restoration project was undertaken, with the plan to present the car in the best possible condition. "The registered keeper sadly passed away and the car is now registered in the name of his widow. "It runs beautifully although needs to be treated gently as it has only done less than 50 miles since the rebuild." 4
Telegraph
22-07-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Ford Escort belonging to family for 50 years sells for £276k
A Ford Escort which was in the same family for nearly 50 years has sold for a staggering £276,000. The vendor's late husband bought the 1976 Ford Escort Mk II RS 1800 for an undisclosed sum in 1977. He drove it for about 10 years before it underwent a restoration and was kept off the road in a barn. The owner died recently and his widow put the Ford up for sale at auctioneers Historics, of Iver, Buckinghamshire. The car which was his 'pride and joy' was originally registered to the Ford Motor Company and one of just five cars used by Ford as a press car. There were only 109 examples all together manufactured of the model, which enjoyed huge rallying success in the late 70s and early 80s. Enduring legacy The white car with a thin light and dark blue strip on the paintwork above its wheels has done only 24,186 miles – on average, 500 a year. A spokesman for Historics said: 'Beyond its rallying success, the Escort RS1800 Mk II remains a cherished car among enthusiasts and collectors. 'Its combination of performance, history, and timeless design continues to captivate fans. 'Restored and modified examples are frequently seen in classic car rallies and events, a testament to its enduring legacy. 'Out of the 109 cars that were built, there were five Press cars, owned by Ford Motor Company, and this is one of the five Press cars. 'In March 1977, it was purchased by the second owner, who used the car for a number of years and in the late 1980s it was restored. 'The car sat in a barn for 35 years with the rebuilt engine sitting on a pallet next to the RS1800. 'Time had taken its toll, and another restoration project was undertaken, with the plan to present the car in the best possible condition. 'The registered keeper sadly passed away and the car is now registered in the name of his widow. 'It runs beautifully, although it needs to be treated gently as it has only done less than 50 miles since the rebuild.'
Top Gear
11-07-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Top Gear's 10/10 cars: 20 brilliant machines that got a perfect score
Advertisement 'Too much power is never enough. Applies to dictators, EV chargers and the Koenigsegg Jesko.' Read the full review Advertisement - Page continues below 'An iconic rally car, masterfully reimagined. Kimera's evo37 is recaptures the spirit of the homologation special.' Read the full review You might like 'No better way for the quad-turbo W16 to bow out than a car where it sounds like the engine is escaping from the chassis.' Read the full review Advertisement - Page continues below 'The flamboyant, bombastic Utopia is the car at its most sculptural, creative and majestic. A howling V12 theatre on wheels.' Read the full review 'Ford has built something incredible here: one of the most exciting, all-enveloping and charismatic cars you'll ever see.' Read the full review Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 'This is a car that reaches the parts no other can. A symphony of engineering purity, weight-saving purges and mechanical artistry. It will almost certainly never be bettered.' Read the full review "Electric has enriched the Rolls-Royce. It's still a galloping, ocean-going, 24-carat indulgence, but with a tasteful specification it's just about possible to swerve absolute vulgarity. Very probably the finest car in the world." Read the full review Advertisement - Page continues below Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS "Does the world really need a GT4 RS ? Yes, yes it does. You can tell Porsche wants to build these cars while it still can." Read the full review 'Veyron's successor is a car that does things no other car can; one with a distinct personality.' Read the full review Advertisement - Page continues below 'Singer's Dynamics and Lightweighting Study is indulgent, rewarding and intense, an even bigger step on from one of their normal restorations than we'd expected.' Read the full review 'The car that did more to further the cause of the performance car than almost any other, Audi's 4WD icon still has relevance today.' Read the full review Mercedes-Benz Patent Motorwagen 'This is it: the Big Bang moment of the passenger car.' Read the full review 'A V12 with KERS electrification that amounts to 950bhp of pure industrial awesomeness.' Read the full review 'Terrifying, brilliant, devastatingly quick. There's nothing like the P1. McLaren has upped the hypercar stakes.' Read the full review 'It's sublime, a rolling sculpture that stays with you for a very long time afterwards.' Read the full review 'Beautiful to look at and listen to, but still a proper challenge to drive. Forget 1,000bhp hyper-exotics – this is what loving cars is all about.' Read the full review 'What McLaren does when it lets its hair down. Utterly bonkers, totally brilliant.' Read the full review See more on Supercars
Car and Driver
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
Alpine A290 Rallye Is an Electric Hot Hatch You Can Take Racing
The Alpine A290 Rallye is an electric hot hatch that's built to go racing straight from the factory. Along with 215 hp, the front-wheel-drive EV features better brakes, an FIA-certified roll cage, and a revised suspension. The factory-prepped A290 Rallye also has a hydraulic handbrake for executing tight turns; too bad it's not sold in the United States. Alpine's roots in rally racing can be traced all the way back to 1955 when the French automaker was founded by Jean Rédélé. The Alpine A106 helped put the brand on the motorsports map, and the subsequent A110 cemented its legacy in the 1960s and '70s. Now, Alpine is catering to the next generation of home-grown racers with the A290 Rallye, a factory-prepped electric race car that customers can buy. Based on the Alpine A290 hatchback, the recently revealed Rallye version shares the same platform and powertrain. The latter includes a front-mounted electric motor that makes 215 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque; a ZF-sourced limited-slip differential transmits that power to the front axle. White-painted 18-inch EVO Corse wheels are bolted to each corner, and they're wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport A tires that are only road-legal in Europe. Alpine Alpina The Alpine A290 Rallye also wears a shade of the brand's hallmark blue paint, and it features a distinctive livery that's predominantly white, albeit with red and black accents. Along with glossy black fender flares, the hatchback's hood is matte black and matches the roof, which features a cute little air scoop. The regular A290—itself based on the Renault 5—has handsome proportions, with its muscular boxed fenders and front lights that incorporate X-shaped elements. That all carries over to the race car, which also benefits from upgrades that make it more than just an appearance package. Working with its Viry-Châtillon teams, Alpine and Co. transformed the EV hatch into an FIA-compliant racer. That means it has a welded roll cage and Sabelt racing seats, not to mention a hydraulic handbrake to help the driver quickly navigate hairpin turns. The Rallye's roster of upgrades also includes a reworked suspension with ALP Racing dampers as well as better brakes, specifically a pair of six-piston monoblock front calipers that clamp 13.8-inch rotors. Alpine says the cars have a race-specific ABS calibration too. Despite missing an internal-combustion engine, the electric A290 racer makes fake sounds that are associated with its accelerator position and speed. Alpine If you haven't noticed, Alpine doesn't currently sell new cars in North America, and the A290 Rallye is no different. Our friends across the pond can expect to pay the equivalent of about $70K for the factory-built race car. Alpine said it's planning to organize a single rally event somewhere in France before the end of the year for a limited number of customers to participate. Of course, the A290 racer will be able to independently compete in spec races and open competitions. Eric Stafford Managing Editor, News Eric Stafford's automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual '97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a '90 Honda CRX Si. Read full bio
The Drive
28-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
Subaru Motorsports Rudely Teases Us With Street-Legal WRX Rally Car Mockup
The latest car news, reviews, and features. These days, there is no shortage of talented artists dreaming up cars that don't exist, but should, and sharing them online. That's to say nothing of the folks who will punch fake vehicle names into AI image generators for predictably horrible results. But these renders of a Subaru WRX rally car in street clothes hit differently, because they came from Subaru Motorsports itself. Earlier in the week, Subaru's U.S. rally team, which is operated by the fine folks at Vermont SportsCar, shared images of its WRX ARA25 rally car in stark white and blue with no liveries and gold rims and the caption 'What if the Subaru WRX ARA25 was sold as road car?' The resulting comments were predictable, from some people offering to donate their kidneys for the cause, to others predictably begging for a new STI. But this thought exercise is so much more extreme than just about any Impreza or WRX the company's ever sold, including the vaunted 22B. The era of homologation specials—race cars that had to be sold as road cars, to be eligible for competition—has long since passed. Three or four decades ago, we might've gotten something like these images. The 22B STI, though it shared many visual similarities to Subaru's WRC car of the late '90s, was really a Type R chassis with flared fenders and many mechanical changes. Subaru built it because it chose to, to celebrate its rallying success—not because it had to. Classic WR Blue Pearl or simple white? Subaru Motorsports USA via Facebook Similarly, anything like this pie-in-the-sky ARA25 road car would have to come about because Subaru wanted to build it. Like everyone else, we wish it did. The VB WRX's design has warmed up on me since its initial unveiling, but I still don't love it. There's just too much cladding, and the rear end design is very narrow and cinched in an unflattering way. But flare those fenders, tuck in the body just behind the front wheels, bolt on a big-ass wing, and swap all that black plastic out for genuine carbon fiber and, suddenly, you've systematically dismantled every possible criticism I though I had with the current-gen sport sedan. Race cars just have a knack for doing that. As much as I avoid getting caught up in daydreaming like this, it's a different story when it's the OEM itself (or, its racing team) inviting us to do it. The STI may have gone on a hiatus, but it's clear that there is still an appetite for a true giant-killing WRX to battle the likes of the Civic Type R, GR Corolla, and Golf R. Commercially, Subaru is killing it these days thanks to its SUVs, and the optimist in me is hopeful that increases the chances the automaker simply decides to blow a whole lot of money on a flagship performance car again. That's the glass-half-full take, anyway; the pessimist in me is wondering why the Subaru rally team chose violence with such a cruel tease. Got a tip? Email us at tips@
