At roughly the same time as Ford of Japan and Australia’s development of the Laser TX3 in their joint partnership with Mazda, their counterparts on the other side of the world were hard at work tooling a turbo hot hatch of their own. Developed with assistance from Ford of America’s SVE (Special Vehicle Engineering) division, the Escort RS turbo promised to deliver a handsome challenge to the likes of hot hatch rivals VW, Lancia and Opel/Vauxhall on their home turf of continental Europe.

Some reckon the Mark III & IV Escort were built on BD Familia underpinnings - but who's to say? Photo courtesy of Ford Club Hannover (Germany)

Drawing from the success of the Sierra Cosworth (YBx) and Mustang SVO (Pinto 2.3) turbocharged engines, the humble 1600 Compound Valve angle, Hemispherical combustion chamber engine was chosen as the base upon which to develop the RS turbo version, possibly showing a certain parallel with Mazda’s similarly sized 1600cc B6T. (more…)