Is Ford Considering A Cheap Rally Car? Sure Sounds Like It

CEO Jim Farley says Ford is 'excited about our rally direction,' and he believes the brand should offer an affordable rally car.

Ford RS200 Prototype

Photo by: Ford

Jeff Glucker

By: Jeff Glucker

Aug 21, at 2:30pm ET

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the breakdown

Ford CEO Jim Farley, speaking to Top Gear, said the automaker wants to "democratize the rally car."
Farley explained that Ford wants to offer an affordable rally car option, but it's unclear if he means just for Europe or for all markets.
Ford has a strong motorsport program right now, and a rally car would slot neatly into that portfolio.

The motorsport division at Ford wants to conquer seemingly every form of racing. There's a hypercar in development, Raptor trophy trucks in Baja, and the wild T1 that takes on the Dakar Rally. You even have GT3 and GT4 Versions of the Mustang, as well.

But Ford might also want to take a more aggressive shot at competing in the World Rally Championship. And that could lead to a new production car that would make any rally fan smile.

Speaking to Top Gear, CEO Jim Farley says that Ford wants "to democratize the rally car." He specifies that notion for both Ford and Europe, but Ford has shifted toward making many more of its cars available for the global market, as of late.

Skip to the ten-minute mark if you want to hear Farley's comments:

So could Ford be cooking up a modern version of its Ford RS200? Or would a "democratized rally car" be something more akin to a pumped-up Escort or Puma?

Either way, talk like this gets us excited. Homologated, or even rally-inspired, production car options are typically quite entertaining machines. Farley goes on to say that there's also a new supercar in the works, and that it needs to stand apart from what he views as an already well-served segment.

What do you think?

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That's all well and good... just tell us more about your potential vision for an affordable rally car for the road.

Motor1's Take: Words like these are music to our ears. There was a time when lots of manufacturers offered road versions of everyone's favorite rally cars. We'd love to see Ford bring such a car back to market, but we are extremely curious about what it will look like, what model Ford will base it on, and what the automaker truly means by "affordable rally car."

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