All hail the mighty Cosworth 2.0L four-cylinder turbocharged wonder mill. Paired off with one of the most praised suspension setups in the automotive world and a four-wheel-drive system that just wouldn’t quit, Ford managed to turn the Euro-market Escort from a yawn-worthy appliance that doubled as automotive purgatory to a world-class sociopath that could tear up and down hill, dale, and whatever tarmac it happened to be on. We could point out the factory-installed rear wing, but that’s like pointing and laughing at a Plymouth Superbird: it might not be to your liking, but that isn’t the point one bit. In it’s basic tune, it’d go straight to 150 miles an hour. Base tune was 227 horsepower. Finding cars with two, three or even four times more power isn’t difficult…you can do the math on how wicked they can be.

This particular Escort RS Cosworth has lost it’s four-wheel drive, but has gained the ability to drift beautifully and rather effortlessly. With drifting becoming bigger and bigger in Europe (Ireland has taken an especially strong liking to the sideways fun), it was only a matter of time before an Escort went skidding. At least here it’s doing it gracefully, instead of into some hedgerow along a narrow country lane!