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In the 1980s, there wasn't much for a Ford-loving petrolhead. The Escort XR3i produced a wheezy 105bhp, and was loved by joyriders - so if you had one, you wouldn't for long.

 

As a blue-blooded Essex boy, passion for fast Fords runs through Stuart Milne's veins, and with a race-track ready look, the RS Turbo was the ultimate Eighties Escort.

 

As Essex as white stilettos in a cheesy club, the Escort RS Turbo was the first Escort in years to get petrolheads hot under the collar.

 

Not since the demise of the lairy, rear wheel drive RS2000 - star of cop show The Professionals - did fans of the Blue Oval have a hot hatch they could lust over.

 

So it was just as well the RS Turbo was a belter.

 

The Series 1 RS Turbo, as it became known, featured an angular bodykit and special blue and black graphics which became the epitome of cool in a world obsessed with the Golf GTi.

 

And it had a pair of front spot lamps huge enough to give the A-Team the green eye.

 

Time has been less kind to the interior, with a spartan plastic dash and garish orange-lit dials. Back in the day, the stereo radio cassette unit would have blasted out Kajagoogoo.

 

With a cultural backdrop like that, the cabin could have been far worse.

 

You could have one in any colour, as long as it was white, although a Princess Diana managed to bag herself a Turbo in black.

 

Under the bonnet, it packed a turbocharged version of the 1.6-litre lump which powered the XR3i, giving it a useful hike in power to 132bhp.

 

This meant it would bark to 60mph in less than eight seconds and reach a top speed of 126mph. That's still credible today, more than two decades later.

 

Developed by boiler suit-clad boffins in Ford's Special Vehicle Engineering workshop, the Turbo was planned to be as dominant on the world's rally stages as it was on the road.

 

Although it only competed as an official works entry in eight UK rallies, those working on the project knew the amount of work involved - the team took delivery of their first RS Turbo on Christmas Eve 1982, and had less than two months to turn it into a competitive rally car.

 

That's a challenge by anyone's standards.

 

The Series 1 RS Turbo stayed in production until 1986, when it was replaced by the Mk4 Escort-based Series 2.

 

Although it sold in bigger numbers than its predecessor, the Series 2 never really had the magic of the Series 1; particularly given most of them were modified badly and then crashed.

 

Given this, its not surprising you'll pay some serious wedge for a Series 1. Set aside at least £3,000 for a decent one, or take a chance on some bargain Series 2 action for about £1,500.