As I was walking through a quiet residential area of Tokyo the other evening I spotted something very familiar parked inside a dark garage of an apartment building. As I began to make my way closer the low-slung silhouette began to become clearer, but surely it couldn't be what I thought it was? Arriving in front of the shutter my suspicions were confirmed, I was indeed face to face with one of only 200 Ford RS200s ever made. These cars were produced from 1984 to 1986 to meet FIA Group B rally car homologation requirements.
It looks like the RS200 has been parked in this place for a vary long time, accumulating a thick layer of dust.
It was fitted with the rally-style Hella auxiliary lights as used in night stages, while the stock fog lights integrated into the lower section of the bumper seemed to be missing the Hella-logoed covers.
It could of course be a replica, but it was hard to tell looking at it from the front. Although this being Japan, it's probably the real thing! I'd really like to find out the story behind this car, as it sure makes me curious. Would be cool to wash it and take it for a nice test drive on the Izu Skyline!
-Dino Dalle Carbonare
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
I can't imagine that...
Looks like there are others just sitting too!
It would be nice to find out the story of this car.
wow!
thats crazy awsome find. you need to ring every door bell in the apartment building to find the owner!
Seems to be a rather dusty M5 to the left of it also...... perhaps the owner has fogot about them?. Do the machines a favor... set them free.
I doubt it's as interesting as the RS200 but what's the car sat next to it in that garage?
omg.. poor ford
Nice find! A true gem!
Judging from the thick layer of dust on the Beemer next to it that car also didn't move for ages...
who leaves one of those just sitting there like that, like c'mon!!
Such a rare gem, left to die a dusty death. What a waste.
That's a similarly abandoned BMW 5-series. Must belong to the same person!
i'm not for stealing cars but, steal it...
blasphemy this is , This is a work of art, a picasso laying around on some old dude's attick gathering dust.
It breaks my heart to see this .
Great find man .
The car next to is, according to the rims, a BMW E34 M5!
Why do you leave such beatiful cars?
if that was me mate i'd be straight onto neighbours etc. get some details on the guy and contact him, who knows, you may even get them for a steal! heard of stranger things happen, imagine picking up a £100K RS200 for a few thousand yen
worst of all, he remembers he left it there and uses it like its meant to be!
It would be nice to find who the owner is!
RS200 was a really nice gr B, quite like the 037 Lancia or Ferrari 308, for me the best was BMW M1, such great sound in mountains at Monte Carlo... bad result if we considers Audi or 205 T16 of this generation, but such impressive cars on the road !
As if you place these automotive legends lin this state!!!
Wow!!... speechless
clearly the owner is leaving these gems in hibernation for the impending doom of a zombie attack, where a dusty car stands a better chance at being overlooked in the eyes of brain-hungry zombies. awesome find dino, wow!
Great finding Dino! hope u get a story on it.
It's so sad seeing cars like those two just collecting the dust. On the other hand, the owner could face some effects of global financial crisis and temporary give up his sportscar hobby to return to it later. Afterall, they are parked behind the locked fence and not just left to die on the steet like thousands of exotic cars in Saudi Arabia (remember the Jaguar - it was far not the only one).
Its engine probably popped years ago and they just stopped trying, apparently they only last 8 hours or smething crazy like that.
True Rat Style
oh mince !
Comment peut-on abandonner une voiture comme ça ?
Si elle veut être adoptée je veut bien m'en porter acquéreur
Such as shame to see a car in this state. there is one only in New Zealand that I know of.
This makes me sad
wtf!!!! what a crazy find...such an awsome and rare car!!
Look at the M5 parked next to the RS200!!
Never know where you'll find something interesting hiding!
That looks like an early E34 M5 gathering dust too.
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poor poor car shouldnt be sitting there like that
Made me think of an abandoned Jaguar XJ220 in Qatar. It's such a waste....
SteveT: That's just a dumb myth. Those engines where built for racing, and can handle the abuse.
The road version of the non-EVO 1.8litre only produce 250bhp anyway.
Dino find out more about this car. It would be some story if it's the real deal.
$$$$$
Only in Japan... Looks like the real thing (compared to the replicas I've seen). This thing is priceless Dino. Find the owner and get yourself a piece of Group-B history. Four wheel drive, mid-engined turbo madness!!!
Wikipedia: For a standard production car, the fastest road-tested acceleration reported at the time occurred in 1993, when a Ford RS200 Evolution went from zero to 26.8 m/s (60 mph) in 3.275 seconds. Two separate RS200s have both reported 0-100 km/h times of 2.1 seconds.
Desktop of the first picture please??? =]
SICK!!!!
You sure that's not a kit car?
Epic meeting. Looks sooo sad under this dust...
wow !
That BMW looks like M5 ,by the wheels.
yeah a story about the ford would be great but I also think that the bmw is interesting too. not as much as the ford but still. I just love dust covered cars and the stories behind them ^^
Wow what a find! I love these crazy "barn finds"! This is even better than the abandoned Skylines from the gas station!
Who the hell would leave that RS200 in a garage to rot like that?
Dude no wayyy!
Its probably broken.
2.1s to 100. damn
That thing is worth between 200 to 300 thousand Euros!!!!
exactly what i thought a 5series!!
def must be owned by the same person!!
i guess that's one way of storing such cars...
im guess milage 0.00000000001 miles/km hahahhaah lol
What a nightmare for me to see this dreamcar like that, like a lost soul ! Shame on her owner !
What kind of people do such thing??? this is like to abandoned a puppy :((
i wonder how much dust is on the dead owner of the cars in the apartment
perhaps the owner died and nobody else really knew about the cars
Amazing,try to find the owner!
what about the m5 on the left?
I remember when I was younger I saw a beautiful, black Lamborghini Countach sitting in an underground parking of a Hotel in the Dominican Republic with a really thick layer of dust. I asked the security guard that worked there why the car was there. He said the owner had died and no one has picked up the car, and that they wouldn't call any company to pick it up; it's a goddamn Lambo! Looking back now I wonder if story he told me was true..
Sorry if I'm late to the party; if this is genuine, my sources say that it may be chassis 88. In fact, judging from that blue bit on the door and the HELLA pod, it most likely is the one. But the wheels are a bit different, so that kinda throws me off.
Check out #88 at rs200.com.
dino, you're on a mission now. you have to find out the story behind this car. this is too much of a tease!
OMG the first thing that came to my mind is that you could somehow get that car for a steal. THAT WOULD BE EPIC!!
Find the owner!
It has to be a replica. Odds are very low that it is original, think ... no one in their right minds would abandon a several hundred thousand dollar car, besides filthy rich oil princes.
did anyone ever think the owner might be riding around in a sick car somewhere wondering when he can finish, or repair.. his rs?? who knows, it might be in line to become something greater? JMO
:'( so sad a great car is goin to waste..
Graytotoro, nice find. But could it get that dusty in 7 years?
Heartbreaking to see it in that state! Someone could be using it how it was meant to be used
Looks like there's an E30 next to it...
It could be real. Some people have more money and car than they know what to do with. This reminds me of the abandoned VH1 Corvettes: http://izismile.com/2010/02/18/abandoned_corvettes_37_pics.html
Not sure it's #88 - it's LHD...
My parents left their car at the airport underground parking for 3 weeks once. On another level they were cutting concrete and other stuff for construction. When they got back the car was just as caked in dust as that. That dust could be only a week or two old. It looks like theres that much dust on the pillars and ground too.
wow i would definatly try to get my hands on something like that... worst thing to ever do to a car... let it sit...
This is not #88 this is a lefthand drive car... Look at the windscreenwipers... I wanna buy it if I can find the owner. / K.
The owner must be a pretty strange guy... who forgets about such a car?!
Holy SHH...that is one of the neatest things I've ever seen! I could only imagine your feelings walking by and seeing it.
Would love to find out more details
Hmm, also looks like #102, it's an s, the stickers match, the hella fogs + original fogs also match.
Tho, it was last seen in Switzerland in 2008. Looked at the other original s chassis', and this one seemed to match best.
Such a shame that a car like this has been neglected. Also a shame that the RS200 didn't get to really stretch its legs properly on the world rally circuit. I can't imagine what Group B cars would look like these days!
I wanna find the owner and buy the car from him/her. Help me do it to save that piece of motor history, / Keith.
what a crazy find!!
Where exactly in Tokyo is it?
This is not that uncommon in Japan. I've seen loads of expensive machinery either neglected like this, or enshrined, never to be driven. The guy around the corner from me has a Lambo, a Ferrari and a Porsche Carerra in his huge ostentatious glass door garage. Drives a Lexus every day and never moves the others.
Great find dino..totally awesome.
Yeah, #102 i think. Is this common i Japan? Crazy people... / K.
There are a few cars that I have records of having gone to Japan in the 80's and then I have never found the owners, the main problem is GOOGLE or all the usual ways do not help very much with the Japanese web searches. For instance look up chassis #091 or #092 on http://www.rs200.org
Dino - If you PM'd me the address I could get the owner of #088 or #116 to try and make contact with the owner - maybe I could send you some business cards for the website to hopefully spur the owner into making contact ?
Justin
What a shame to see such a rare car sitting behind bars like this. That should be sitting in my garage all shiny and clean. I wish i owned it.
This should not be allowed. and also another car next to it, looks abit like a deloreon. two rare cars like this is just criminal
This should not be allowed. and also another car next to it, looks abit like a deloreon. two rare cars like this is just criminal
This should not be allowed. and also another car next to it, looks abit like a deloreon. two rare cars like this is just criminal
why should this not be allowed we all fall guilty of neglecting cars ,if you have paid for them its up to you if you want it to collect dust
why should this not be allowed we all fall guilty of neglecting cars ,if you have paid for them its up to you if you want it to collect dust
any info on this? SO curious!? You never went around asking who owned it? I would have, and then asked how much!
I know who owns it i sold him a full body every panel as spares ,it is not for sale ,and it is genuine
rs200 man
Know anything about why it's sitting where it is, along with the other cars? plans for it? I'm curious why a car would be left to sit like this.
@Aust The car next to it looks to me like a E34 BMW 5 Series.
car next to the rs200 is a e34 m5 with the turbine wheels
@Aust deloreans aren't thaaat rare. I've seen several of them in the wild. If i see an rs200 i'll crap my pants.
rs200 man of course it is allowed. It is just absolutely strange for a car guy that is lucky to have a rs200 to abandon it like that. Especially if he has no money probs. If that is even an Evolution one than don't wonder that other rs200 fans would like to linch the owner
I haven't seen a RS200 with race lights for night stages for 30 years ... That car brings so many memories when motorsport was for crazy blokes.