(Photos: via XCAR) By 1970, Ford has quite successfully shown Ferrari two bold and brazen middle fingers, to the delight of Henry Ford II, and had won LeMans four times over. Spool in successful sales at the height of the muscle car era, a healthy battle for supremacy on NASCAR’s high-banked ovals with the boys from Chrysler Corporation, drag racing wins, and more, and you’d think that Ford was on a tear to take on every racing form they could. In fact, they pretty much were, except for one: rally. Unlike LeMans, which had worldwide attention, rally racing didn’t pack the same amount of glamour in. Porsche 911s and Lancia Fulvias tearing through the countryside with maniacal drivers behind the wheel was a completely different bag, but Ford wasn’t having it.

Ford U.K., however, was. The Escort had the durability to last, but just didn’t have the guts to compete, so in 1970 Ford U.K.’s head of racing, Stuart Turner, decided something had to change. Enlisting Ford driver Roger Clark, the concept would produce a mid-engined, rear drive car that would be able to compete in speed stages better than the Escort. Most of the car would be derived from off-the-shelf components to save on cost, and the engine would be the 2.6L Cologne V6 (familiar to us from the imported Capri). Five prototypes were built and tested between the concept’s first appearance, nine months after the initial idea, and 1973. During that testing phase the GT-70 never provided any real promise. When entered into rallies the teams found difficulty in providing consistent performance and results. Halfway through the testing the 2.6 was scrapped in favor of the 1.6L Cosworth DBA four-banger that would also appear in the RS200.

By 1973 one factor became the obvious reason why the GT-70 program was canned: the Escort just got better. While engineers and drivers were trying to sort out Ford’s rally special, the Escort got faster. With their original rally car sorted out, and no reason to continue with a specialized prototype, the GT-70 program was closed down in 1973. Looking at the car now, two cars come to mind: Lancia Stratos and Pontiac Fiero. One would wind up being a World Rally badass, the other…well…a good idea stunted by poor execution. And it wouldn’t be the last time Ford messed with a mid-engined car, with the RS200, GN34 program, and GT following on. But for 1973, it wasn’t meant to be.