The wide open grille, different to the one in the definitive versions of the Ford Escort RS Cosworth, tells us these pictures must be taken between 1990 and 1991. The first two pics are definitely from 1990, the year the Cossie took its first two wins ever. That was in Spain- where prototypes were allowed to run - at the hands of Josep María "Mía" Bardolet.

The third picture (below) is from the introduction (that too was in 1990, possibly after the Birmingham show) and look at that gorgeous livery! Of note: the Gordon Spooner Engineering decals (responsible for much of the development of the car) and Mountune (in charge of the engine department).

The key innovation here was aerodynamics. The front splitter was adjustable (up to 45N could be achieved) while the rear whale tail generated at least 190 N of downforce. This made the car especially fast on asphalt, coupled to the fact that tarmac aces such as Miki Biasion and Francois Delecour took leading roles in development starting in 1992 and 1991 respectively.

I guess the asphalt setup wasn't finalised - as the Cossie had close to no body roll when it finally debuted at the Monte in 1993, while the wheel offset looks a bit weird. The OZ Racing mags were much closer to the bodywork in its definitive form.

No sign of the Morette double headlights so ubiquitous in the Group A works cars either - the standard units make the car look very different indeed.

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