Turns out that when Raj Nair , Fords VP of Product Development, was a young engineer stationed at Euro Ford HQ in Cologne his company car was an Escort RS Cosworth that he kind of fell in love with...
Car and Driver has the story:
Car and Driver has the story:
To Americans, the “Cossie” was fanboy fantasy. A turbocharged, four-wheel-drive rally homologation special, it’s always ranked near the top of the list of Great Performance Models Ford Denied Us. The engineer loved it, used it to transport his young family, and refused to return it. Eventually he was shipped back to Dearborn, Michigan, leaving the Escort behind.
His name? Raj Nair, now Ford’s VP of product development and chief technical officer. And although there’s no officially acknowledged link between his one-time choice of company car and his decision to turn the new Focus RS into a global superstar, we’re calling it a compelling coincidence.