Forza Horizon 4: The flaw of Ford's rally history

Ford Motor Company was known for their success in the world of rallying thanks to the likes of the Escort, the Cortina, the Focus, and the Fiesta, but did you know that behind their recipe of rally success lies a hidden flaw from within? Let me introduce to the flaw of Ford's rally history known as the GT70.



Having acquired this unknown but failed Ford rally experiment in the middle of the recent Horizon Autumn Playlist, let's get to know about the car Ford tried to take on rallying and then failed.



Built in response to the likes of the Alpine A110 and the Porsche 911's success in rallying, the Ford GT70 draws inspiration from the Le Mans-winning GT40 race car while it was engineered to take on the World Rally Championship. Behind the fiberglass bodywork that weighs less than a ton, it's powered by the same 2.6L V6 engine from the Capri RS2600, producing 240hp of power, while mated to a five-speed manual. A working prototype popped up at the 1971 Brussels Motor Show and Ford originally tried to make 500 of these to comply with homologation regulations. However, only six were made and half went racing with disastrous results, therefore the GT70 program's scrapped for good.

In 2002, Ford France commission a restoration of the forgotten GT70 rally car and for this restoration, the old engine's been swapped by a 2.0L Cosworth BDG 4-cylinder engine producing 200hp of power, along with some minor tweaks. It made its appearance at the 2002 Goodwood Festival of Speed.



As a matter of fact, the GT70 we saw here is the restored one that popped up at the 2002 Goodwood FoS and although less powerful than the original GT70, it still is lively to drive because of its lightweight bodywork. It's about as lively as the competition the GT70 meant to take on and you can spend a brief moment of time getting to know its unanswered questions.



Unanswered questions aside, I took the GT70 for a ride at LEGO Valley to see how it's made. Roll the tape.

Rough but not bad.



The GT70 may be the  flaw of Ford's rally history but it's all part of a plan. With every success comes failure and with every failure comes success. That's how Ford's rally career rolls and right now, Ford's rallying career gambles with their current-generation Fiesta, the one that is not available in the US for reasons unknown.

Let's continue supporting Ford on their rallying commitment!