Mk2 RS factory specials.................

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?????
 
 
 
 
 

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 !

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?......

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?...............

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...........

The 79/80 gregorys manual shows the air con in the wiring diagram, you should be able to trace it back to most of the parts required. Apparently the factory ford manual from 1977 shows a bit more of the a/c but I haven't found that book yet so can't say either way. What sides your compressor on? Inlet or exhaust? I've got pics of both if you need them. A/c cars should have factory tint aswell, 'tinted' will be stamped under the logo on the top of the window. These are hard to get in the two door, not so hard in four door as ghia windows are tinted too.
PM me if you need pics of the compressor....
Cheers Drew..........

That looks like an aftermarket kit fitted to a escort, seen a few over the years, usually fairly rough installation
the factory unit is combined with the underdash panels with the controls on an integrated panel. The aftermarket units usually take out the glove box for the blower and evaporator .
The Factory Ford escort 1977 manual shows many of the factory parts with a legend showing the ford part numbers.

I think you're right there Tim....
Hey Ash, yeah that's the factory type, the air vents are actually TE Cortina, the clock Fairlane, they mixed up the parts a bit to make them but they are pretty neat. What side was the compressor on? Trying to work out whether it was just the ones on the inlet side that had the battery in the boot, can't see why the exhaust side setup would need it, but unsure, any pics would be good.....
Cheers Drew