Sometimes the most exciting projects are born by combining pure passion with the desire to celebrate a legend. This explains the genesis of the Ford RS2.00. It all started when the American manufacturer’s European design team decided to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1984 RS200, a legendary car, a legend of Group B Rallying in the 1980s. The re-enactment of the car in a digital key wanted to underline the passion of Ford of Europe’s designers for sports cars and video games.
For the RS2.00, the creative process was unconventional. Amko Leenarts, head of design at Ford Europe, met author Steve Saxty while preparing a book on the brand’s secret projects and both decided to conclude the text with a styling exercise celebrating the 1984 RS200. The work ended with a series of sketches, but both felt that more could have been done.
So, a group of designers from Ford Europe decided to continue the project secretly, creating new sketches and developing a virtual 3D model of the car. All this during their spare time, in true ‘Skunkworks’ style. And when Leenarts found out that his team was working on the RS2.00 in secret, he decided to support it and take it forward. The design team worked in a unique and collaborative way, with volunteers joining in over time. Furthermore, all decisions were made by the designers themselves, ensuring that the final product was truly the result of their collective vision and creativity. This approach allowed them to experiment with new tools and software, maintain agility and promote unexpected ideas.
The designers also used traditional methods such as clay and clay modelling to ensure that the RS2.00 remained an attractive car with compact dimensions. The overall theme that inspired the car is based on the principles of the ‘Friendly Monster’ while respecting the original mandate given by Ford to Ghia for the production of the RS200 of ‘84 in which the car was not meant to look like a racing model. The aesthetics, therefore, are almost playful, in line with the latest Ford cars, while still being a high-performance and agile car.
Among the key aspects is the car’s transparent front end, which creates an unprecedented inside-outside visual connection. This feature stems directly from the car’s gaming nature, which aims to share the feeling of speed with the player/driver. Finally, the interior design is directly inspired by racing simulation devices, with most elements organised around a structural component visible from the outside. The seats are made up of flexible pieces that adapt to the shapes of the occupants’ bodies and use fastening systems to simulate different levels of driving sensations, filtering or emphasising the car’s movements. The steering column? It is the heart of the car and houses all the settings that the driver can customise to his or her liking.
