Hey all, over the years I've heard about a few RS2000 factory specials, just wondering if anyone has seen these cars lurking in a garage somewhere or can shed some light on any others out there........
 
The first one I saw was advertised for sale almost 20 years ago, it was a four door RS in hermatage red, sort of a wine/ burgundy colour. From memory it was about ten grand, at that point about double the price of a good RS.........
 
Second was two dealer cars in perth, a two and four door mocked in JPS (john player special) colours, they were black with gold pinstiping and extra JPS logos produced by challenger ford. I saw the four door in person, parked in a carpark and later saw it for sale. Wonder if the two doors still out there?.....
 
The third ones were two dealer turbo's here in perth and again reputedly from challenger ford also. Both were white, two and four door. A freind had the four door car, but by that time (mid nineties) it had an engine swap and had seen a large front end crash at somepoint, it had been shoddily repaired and actually crab walked down the road. At this point it had no turbo, but still had the boost gauge inside, bonnet vents same as the tubo sigma's, which when it rained would leak water on the dissy and kill it The radiator support had a hole cut right where you'd plumb an air intake for a turbo with a scoop on the outsde which bolted underneath the bumper. There was no doubt it had been turbo'ed at some point in it's life but I still wonder if it was a dealer conversion?.....
 
Can anyone shed any light one these cars or deepen the mystery with any other oddballs that may have been made?????
 
 
 
 
 

I know the Heritage red one belongs / belonged  to a guy in my car club.
 
Can find out more if you like?
 
Cheers
 
Matt

There was a red 2dr turbo here in Adelaide I remember back in all he '90s when I worked at Quickco motorsports(now velo seats) that car had the sigma style vents also. Another strange 1 was back in 1980 my neighbor ordered a flat nose RS2000 2dr in burnt orange , whether it was or just a rally pack with extras I'm not sure it was too long ago.
Slightly off subject back in late '80s I saw a jet black mk1 with gold pinstripe ,and a GT1300 dash , it had rostyle wheels ...the wing badge was black with a 4pointed silver star . I asked if he wanted to sell it but no deal !

About 20 years ago, I was driving down Wynnum Rd at Tingalpa here in Brisbane. I was behind a black RS2000 Mk2 4door with gold stripes/decals. When I eventually managed to get beside it at a set of lights, I had a quick chat with the owner who informed me it was a factory turbo.
 
I'd never heard of them at that point so sort of didn't give it much merit. Maybe it was fair dinkum.

Good to hear your input guys..........
Matt79, did a bit of looking and Hermitage Red was a ford colour (code L 79onwards) no doubt these cars existed, have been told 5 to 10 were made, no particular interest, just wondering...................
As for the rest I guess it's just speculation, although I'm pretty sure the perth JPS cars were out there, white turbo's I'll take with a grain of salt......
Cheers for the off tangent Martymexico, also interested in any high option Mk1/2's once again just out of interest....
A good freind and I picked up a Mk2 rally pack some fifteen years ago, it was RUSTY having been parked next to a horse shed for some time, it was a high end car with a full rally pack, bumpers, spotlights, ford mudflaps and fm radio. Two litre, with a C3 auto ( not desirable but rare), and a Factory air con (thats desirable!!!!) Whoever bought it new ticked all of the boxes.... As I said, it was very rusty and parted out in the end. Still irks me but I do have the chassis and compliance plates left.... maybe one day........
The falcon gt fella's talk about their Ho's and Rpo's....
Any other stories that may make our marque a bit more significant? Escort, Cortina, Capri?......

Re the HO's and the RPO's.
Ford and Holden went the extra yards to label and place a proper identitiy to their high end performance vehicles. These vehicles could only be optioned with special parts within the factory itself during assembly.
Unfortunately in Australia the Escorts, including the Rally Packs and the RS2000 did not share the same level of factory identificaction, or enhanced performance options. 
I am sure that most of the "factory" modified Escorts were in fact very low volume new car dealer specials and included specific upgrades to sell a few extra vehicles, and had little or no input from Ford Australia itself. The dealer would have fitted the options themselves.
 

Damn the muscle car and fuel scare for stopping those factory menaces  In saying that I guess it helped our small sporting Fords find their place............
Off topic a little, suprised there hasn't been another 'scare'  whilst I'm a self confessed petrol head,  gotta be honest, I've been scared s#!tless and left wondering "why do they make cars like this?" after rides in a couple of modern evo lancers and chevy powered conformodores etc...............
Any more interesting small fords out there?...............

when i got my RS about 12 years ago, it had a bonnet that had sigma turbo vents. a particularly ugly vent IMO. at first i thought they were actually from an airconditioner. however, given that the sigma turbos were released after the RS finished production, i cant see how this would have been a factory / dealer special. i still have the bonnet though.
 

You're right rsgerry the sigma's were later, never thought of that one, yeah the vents were ugly, just like a sigma...... Air conditioning possibly? or someones idea to fix an overheating problem? Seen worse like a blocked air cleaner with holes drilled in it, haha what people will do to save a buck......
 So the Hermatige red and JPS cars were for real, begining to think the fabled white turbo's may have been just that, a fable...........

rHi
 
I have just bought a MK2 2dr 2.0 GL Auto with air con in white. Looks like some air bits are missing, but I am trying to get it all back together. I am hoping to make it look like a GS rally pack model, just bought the decal kit. Does anybody know of any air con layout diagrams. I have the Haynes and Gregorys workshop manuals, but they don't even mention it.