29/05/2026
I sometimes get asked "how did this photoshoot come about" so ready for when I get old and can't remember the answer here it is (while I can still remember)!
I used to meet Dan Alcock from Ford PR for regular coffee chats as he lived locally. The new Focus RS was just being launched (2016) and that was of course 30 years after the launch of the RS200 (1986) and we were looking at the old photo on our phones taken on the A12 (which isn't far from where we were having the coffee) and we both sort of said, "Shall we"?
Dan arranged it all through the proper Ford channels and with a professional photographer we met on either a Sat or Sun morning while traffic was light, he also brought their RS500 Focus along. I don't think the images of the RS500 have ever been seen so here is a first for everyone.
That is me with my own RS200 ( #193 E846OCW) in police uniform (I was still a Police Officer at the time) and Dan in the Focus RS.
As for the original photo, that is Eddie Cross who told me..
"I was the Fleet Manager at Essex Police in the day, Neil Blackie Ford Account Manager (the other guy in the photo) asked us to assist, with a campaign which revolved around the RS Cosworth and the strap line which was something like "If you have one of these, you will need one of these (RS200) to catch it"
In those days EP especially worked with Ford on a lot of pre-production equipment, often with the competition guy (David Mountain / Mountune) in Witham. I went to Boreham and was given a tour and a ride around the rally circuit by John Taylor.
Essex Police had the car for a few days during which time we fitted the police livery, and the publicity photos were taken on the now A12 @ just down from Boreham we had to dodge the construction traffic!
After the photos, some Traffic officers had the car for a short while until they over rev'd it which caused a misfire, so it was returned to Ford, as you know the publicity campaign was never used.
I have great memories from Boreham with John Taylor, Gwyndaf Evans and Malcolm Wilson, because at the time I was also rallying ending up with an RS2000, which used one of Russell Brooks old shells which still had the witness marks of the ‘Heat for Hire’ livery.
So there you have it :)
