Ken block’s cosworth v2

So watching you tube videos on ken blocks newest ride, has me really liking the looks of these. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.motor1.com/news/307199/ken-block-new-escort-cosworth/amp/

But if I am correct never were in the states. 

How close are they to the Merkur xr4ti? I think I saw somewhere same chassis. But every time I look at a xr4ti something just doesn’t flow right. 

Related, but completely different sheet metal.

Did anyone else notice that the renderings had vents at the trailing end of those flares but the videos which show the actual car have them closed off? 

I'm not an aero expert by any means, but not having the back of those open sort of defeats the purpose, no?

Pretty certain the Escort Cosworth made it here but that is a quarter century memory at this point. 

artur1808 said:

I'm not an aero expert by any means, but not having the back of those open sort of defeats the purpose, no?

Not a very aerodynamic car. The box flares are because box flares. The vents on this care are totally not functional. I was noticing the same watching the video of him testing for this weekend.

The hoonigan car is designed to give pot smoking teenagers a hard on so they end up taking a sawzall to their miata’s Fenders. The whole thing is a conspiracy to ruin the greatest car ever assembled. I’ve said too much...

The Escort Cosworth never came to the US, not even close.  Some have made it here under the 25-year rule, however.  The Escort GT was available here, and was very similar. It only lacked the cracking turbo engine, AWD system, chassis, seats, interior, bi-plane wing and flared bodywork. 

You could get the Cosworth name on ONE car sold in the US: the Chevy Vega: 

and under the hood of the Mercedes 190E 2.3-16:

Fun fact, GM developed the 16V head in the Vega with Cosworth's help.  Cosworth also assisted on some Audi RS cars in the US.  

More Vega fun facts.  They had a tent for a hatch...standard! 

They saved money by being shipped on Verta-Pac trains! 

They kinda look like a mini-Camaro from the front.

They came in three body styles

Yes, you can drop an LS into the Vega. 

In reply to pinchvalve :

350s were the choice back in the day. 99% of all Vegas rusted out before the first LS was built.

He’s waiting to start Special Stage #3 as we speak.  (At the 100 Acre Wood Rally).

I’ll be curious to see how much of the Cossie’s body work is left at the end of the day.

There was a real deal Escort RS Cosworth at a TSD rally I went to a decade ago. It was wearing tags and the owner claimed it to be street legal but I have no idea how that came to pass. The good news is the first couple years of these cars are now legal under the 25 year rule.

_ said:

The hoonigan car is designed to give pot smoking teenagers a hard on so they end up taking a sawzall to their miata’s Fenders. The whole thing is a conspiracy to ruin the greatest car ever assembled. I’ve said too much...

I’m not sure how much the Escort Cosworth (one of my childhood hero cars, btw) has in common with the Merkur. As far as I know the Merkur is closely related to the rwd Ford Sierra, of British touring car fame. I thought the euro Escort was fwd by that time and so the RS Cosworth was an awd incarnation of that fwd platform.

When I was a kid I saw an Escort Cosworth at Waterford Hills, a local club road course. It ran in its own class, popped flames from the exhaust, and drove around Corvettes like they were standing still. It was awesome.

I think this image helps show how related our Escorts in N. America were to the Escort Cosworth's like the one Block is currently driving straight into large obstacles;

We never got an Escort with an engine rotated that way in the chassis.

Seen on Instagram:

His wife is still running though.

paranoid_android said:

Seen on Instagram:

 

His wife is still running though.

She still running the Fiesta?

After Ken's last car burned at NEFR, I was walking with Lucy between stages and she said to me "hey, you want to stay at the hotel with Ken tonight? Because I sure don't want to be in that room...." 

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

I seem to remember the Escort Cosworth was basically a cut and shut Sierra Cosworth 4x4 floorpan with modified Escort sheet metal over the top.

In reply to Racingsnake :

This is correct . Did of Europe used a shortened Sierra Floorplan under the body of the European Escort to build the Escort Cosworth.

It both saddens and amazes me how dull Ford US has been in comparison to Ford of Europe. 

pinchvalve said:

The Escort Cosworth never came to the US, not even close. 

I suppose you could argue that the Xr4Ti is somewhat close - granted its a Sierra not an Escort, but still at least related siblings, and also with a strong rally heritage. Probably more related to the Cossie Escort than a US Escort is.. 

In reply to Sidewayze :

That’s cool! I learned something new today; the Cossie is even more badass than I thought.

In reply to irish44j :

Yes she was driving a Fiesta.  It looks like she finished 6th in 2WO.

joeg1982 said:

Related, but completely different sheet metal.

Sort of.

The Sierra was Ford's car of choice for Group A.  This WAS sold here as the Merkur XR4Ti (a Sierra XR4i with an American engine instead of a Cologne V6).  The rally cars were based on the Sierra Cosworth, and later the Sierra Sapphire/XR4x4.  The '87ish-up XR4Tis have the wider trans tunnel to accomodate the AWD gear.

When Ford decided the Sapphire was too big and they needed to start running the Escort, they decided that the most expedient way to go about it was to stick the sides and top of the front wheel drive Escort shell on the already-sorted Sierra floorpan, after knocking off a bit of length here and there.  And thus was created the Escort Cosworth, a longitudinal version of a transverse car.

So, technically, the floorpan of the Cossie WAS sold in the US, under the last couple years of XR4Ti, but that's pretty much it.  The MkIV/MkV Escort was not ever sold here in any shape or form, US and UK Escorts diverged around 1983.

Supposedly a US based stage rally team (I'd like to say Air Force?) made an Open class Focus by sticking a Focus shell on an XR4Ti floorpan and attaching Cossie drivetrain/suspension bits to it, but I've no concrete evidence.

I remember the Air Force Team running a Focus. Maybe that was the one you are talking about knurl. Ill have to dig through photos I have from a few rallies of that vintage. I've seen those Escort rally cars run a couple rallies and they were beautiful cars.