X Pack Cars , how can you tell factory or not ?

[JPA]

Going to view / buy an RS2000 X Pack in Black

How can I tell if it’s a factory fitted one ?

Cars on an X plate , is that too late for one ?

Cheers

John 👍

[RS2000CUSTOM]

Easy one this - None are "factory" !

6 are believed to have been prepared for Ford to showcase the Series-X dealer fit options available through the dealer network and the work was carried out on Fords behalf by"outside" bodyshops.

As for "genuine" Series-X cars converted back in the day then there are a few well known examples but again none were factory built

[graham John]

agree with dave

cheeRS

[Andyc]

Going to view / buy an RS2000 X Pack in Black

How can I tell if it’s a factory fitted one ?

Cars on an X plate , is that too late for one ?

Cheers

John 👍

Whats the reg John

[Dave1800BDA]

Some LHD cars must have been factory made, their black and silver tags denote a weight difference in kgs, heavier than standard car because of the options added

[seriesxman]

LHD x-packs

Thanks Dave, also the Build plate begins with a 7 not the usual G or U generally seen on escorts, if any one knows of any of these vehicles I’d be very interested to see them, we’re thinking they were taken from the factory in batches similar to the RS1800’s as my chassis number is only 4 cars away from Frank Anders car. The easiest way to spot one is the corded seat material on the Scheel seats. I don’t believe they were factory built but were commissioned by ford and prepared for later fitment of the fibreglass arches, probably by a sub-contract shop such as Zakspeed, they were then sold via the RS dealers for considerably more deuzmarks than the standard RS2000, anyway I’m on my hobby horse again!

[rwdrs]

Some LHD cars must have been factory made, their black and silver tags denote a weight difference in kgs, heavier than standard car because of the options added

In Germany it was the same as in the UK AFAIK, but with the "minor" difference that every part of the kit had to be entered by an MOT/TÜV-engineer, i.e. for IDFs and GP1 head etc the power was then stated in the reg document as 140ps instead of 110 hp.

The X-pack body kits, 7.5J wheels etc all had to be inspected after fitting (at the Ford dealer then "eingetragen" in the reg doc.

I don't know if this was the case in other LHD markets.

[rwdrs]

I hadn't heard of some cars having different weights stated on the VIN plates or alternate chassis no. prefixes, but the received wisdom is that they were all dealer build as the Series-X options were just that, options.

As far as the thory about bataches of cars, I very much suspect that the reason for some cars being just a few VIN nos apart is that dealers ordered the cars in batches.

As the Series-X Fiesta, Cortina, Capri or Escort didn't exist from the factory (certainly 99+% of all cars) then why would Ford build these in batches?
You could well be right, but the Harrier and other "specials" were usually built in batches of 500, not 5-10 cars – 5-10 units were usually press cars.

It is not like today with every car coming down the line with a different spec and JIT manufacturing. It took quite an effort to change the line to churn out a different spec model.

I don't know how it can be that nobody actually knows if there were "factory build" Series-X cars, but logic would demand that Ford didn't build complete cars to order.

Although they'd have been better off using that line capacity than sending Mexicos down the line (no offence Mexico owners) they could have turned out batches of full group 1 spec cars for clubman or offered complete packs, i.e. Competition Pack and for the road Body Pack, Performance Pack and Handling Pack…

[seriesxman]

LHD X-pack or Spezials

Thank RWDRS, I can assure you that the spezials, apparently 300 of them were built, they have a weight of 1375kg on the gross weight on the vin tag(same as the ex-Moorlands car) all European std RS2000’s I believe are 1325kg, uk cars aren’t stamped in this field on the vin plate as they weren’t required to be for some reason. My build plate also has some strange numbers on it, maybe denoting omission of stripes or deletion of black around the windows, deletion of RS2000 rear bumper, perhaps we’ll never know all the answers. But it appears that these cars left the line in a different state than a standard car maybe not as a fully fledged X-pack but as something that went on to become a Spezial. I have a write up in a German magazine from feb 79 showing K- HJ 184 as a documented Spezial (one of the 300) anyone who wants to see this drop me a pm with an email address on and I’ll gladly share a pic of magazine.

Cheers

[rwdrs]

Kerbweight is stated on my RS's reg doc as "Leergewicht 925 kg"

[seriesxman]

Gross weight is as I see it with the car fully loaded, what is stamped in the field on your car? If it’s a German car and not a Spezial I’d put a substantial bet on 1325kg.

[Miniliteman]

Is the 1325 kg stamped on your car?
Never seen that myself on any continental car.
Kerb weight on a std RS2000 is 935 kg on most if not all cars I have seen.

Jamie's car is a Dutch car.

[seriesxman]

From looking at my vin plate it doesn’t mention kerb weight just max gross weight, no mine doesn’t say 1325kg as this would be a standard RS2000, mine is heavier due to long range tank, fibreglass arches etc

[rwdrs]

In Germany there was indeed both, i.e. the bolt-on dealer-fit gear and 300 units pulled off the line at Saarlouis and stripped and upgraded in Cologne.

The Spezial models weren't strictly a "factory" model but these 300 did come direct from Ford, however, the type approval number is the same as the standard car 449002 9 although the kerb weight was stated at 1325 kg on the VIN plate, as compared to the 925 kg of standard car.

Here a quote for you from igrs2000:
Die Karosserie erhielt eine Kotflügelverbreiterung mit integriertem Frontspoiler. Darunter verbargen sich 7,5x13" breite RS Aluminium-Räder mit 235/60VR13 Reifen. Unter der Motorhaube werkelte der Bekannte zwei Liter OHC Motor des RS2000, der allerdings eine kräftige Kur über sich ergehen lassen mußte. Gekrönt von zwei IDF 44 Weber-Doppelvergasern erhielt der Motor eine 316° Nockenwelle, größere Ventile und eine höhere Verdichtung. Die jetzt anliegenden 132PS wurden mit belüfteten Bremsen an der Vorderachse ausgebremst, mit einem Hochleistungskühler temperiert und von einem 68 Liter fassendem Kunststofftank im Kofferraum mit Superkraftstoff versorgt. Das, der Großserie gegenüber, längere Getriebe vermittelte die Kraft zwischen Motor und Hinterachse mit 75% Differentialsperre. Das Fahrwerk glänzte mit Bilstein Gasdruck Dämpfern, einer Vorderachstraverse und Rallye-Mehrblattfedern an der Hinterachse. Diese umfassenden Änderungen hatten ihren Preis. Im Gegensatz zum Preis von 15.309 DM für den Großserien RS, mußte der Kunde satte 26.750 DM für den Spezial auf die Ladentheke blättern.

[seriesxman]

Thanks RWDRS, yes you’ve found some data I put up on here a few years ago, see post ‘series-x help needed’ but after that after discussing the spezials with experts in Germany it became apparent that all the Spezials were stamped with a gross vehicle weight(not kerb weight) of 1375kg where as a standard car in Germany would be 1325kg