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.....doing, but not specifically to put someone else's situation right or anything like that -that's certainly not our province- but doing a version of Escort is quite possibly on the cards for our sort of programme, and it could be a high performance version as well."
Are you talking about the XR3i - the injected XR3 with five-speed 'box?
"Ah, you've obviously been doing your homework. Yes, we are doing a version of the Escort as our next model, I think it's fair to say that."
Is it designed to be a GTi-beater?
"I would hope so, but I can't really tell you too much about it. I can say that it will likely see the light of day towards the very end of 1982."
This line of questioning was obviously going nowhere so a different tack seemed in order. Where did the latest variant of the Escort, the RS1600i, fit into the scheme of things? Rod was a little more forthcoming.
"It is a car produced by the Motorsport area under Public Affairs. It isn't ours in any way at all, but it is confusing to us insofar as a lot of people think because it's a new car from Ford, then it is ours. A great number of the 'phone calls coming through to us are questions about the RS1600i which I have to readdress to the area responsible for engineering it; that is, Fritz Boettger and his team in Germany.
"It is an example of the car they are putting together in Motorsport for a particular purpose and then hoping to sell a set number. In this case, 5000 are needed for Group A, so that's what they're interested in. Beyond that, they won't be building any more cars, so it won't be a current production car in that sense. It will be a car available on a short lease of life from Ford through Rallye Sport dealers."
Between them, then, it looks as though Ford Motorsport, through the Rallye Sport network, and SVE, through regular Ford dealers, will have some very interesting cars on offer, including the RS1600i, RS1700T, Capri 2.8i Turbo (probably only available through European RS dealers with left-hand drive), XR2, XR3 injection and Capri 2.8i.
In two years, the Special Vehicle Engineering section has made quite an impact. How, one wondered, did Rod envisage the future?
"We'll continue to look for gaps in the range, and hopefully the more interesting ones will be plugged by SVE. I may be wrong, but I think we have a reasonably secure future in the Ford way of doing things. We're fulfilling a need with our cars, and I hope we continue doing so.
"Response is what it's all about at SVE. If the marketplace suddenly goes even more economy conscious than it is, for instance, there's absolutely no reason at all why we shouldn't be doing an economy vehicle. Nobody is saying that all SVE vehicles are high performance vehicles. It just so happens the first two have been, and we're likely to go along that route a little bit longer. But there's nothing to say that that's the way it will remain for all time.
"If I were to tell you about all the things that are being thought of for this area it would just be confusing because 90% of them won't happen."
You get the feeling that Rod Mansfield is quietly proud of the fact that he's shaken up a few parts of the Ford establishment with what he and his team of engineers have done - sales figures and profits, after all, are what count. Some may say that political considerations have led to compromise with the SVE cars - the XR2, for instance, had to have a performance inferior to the XR3, even though it would have been quite possible to build a real stormer. No one, one suspects, is more aware of that fact than Rod, but he is prepared to work within the system, rattle corporate cages where necessary, and push to get the sort of cars he thinks need building. In short, it is infinitely preferable to know you're performing with a corporate safety net than without one.
There is a real proliferation of Ford performance vehicles appearing on the market, some the work of SVE, some from mainstream engineering and some from Ford Motorsport and sold through the Rallye Sport network. Just to help you keep them all straight, we've listed the cars and their origins.
Capri 2.8 injection - SVE model with fuel injected 2.8 German V6 and suspension modifications. £8125.
Capri 2.8i Turbo - Ford Motorsport, based on SVE model but with turbo, wider wheels and body mods. Not likely to be available in Britain because turbo plumbing rules out right-hand version. Price on application. XR2 - SVE version of Fiesta using mildly tweaked 1600 Kent engine on four-speed XR3 'box. Will likely go to CVH engine once XR3 goes injection. £5150.
XR3 - Ford mainstream model using 1600 CVH engine, wide wheels, bolt-on spoilers and air dams. Still suffering from suspension problems. £5750.
XR3i - SVE-revised XR3 with injection and revised suspension. Intended to be Ford's answer to the GTi.
RS1600i - Ford's Escort Group A car, from Motorsport Division in Germany and available on limited production run through RS dealers. Features tweaked CVH engine with solid lifters, hotter cam and injection, 15in. wheels and new suspension. Price on application. RS1700T - Ford's Group B car from Motors-port at Boreham. Loosely based on Escort shell but with turbocharged BDA-based engine, rear-wheel drive and extensive body modifications. Customer versions available through RS network. Price to be advised.
Captions -
Top-Middle - "That's really how SVE happened: Marketing was demanding it; everybody in Ford could understand it, but it would result in a hell of a mess if you confused the mainstream programmes with it."
Bottom-Middle - Above and below: SVE products and the team responsible for them. Both the Fiesta XR2 (top) and Capri 2.8i have proved to be greater sales successes than management predicted, and SVE itself appears to have an assured future.
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