Ken Block’s new Ford Escort RS Cosworth revealed

Ken Block has pulled the proverbial covers off his new Ford Escort RS Cosworth in a video announcing his new 2019 livery, and a YouTube series with the car titled the ’Cossie World Tour’.

After his original 1991 Ford Escort Cosworth Group A car succumbed to fire last year, Block announced the new car, Cossie V2, would be ‘a modern interpretation’ of a Cosworth competing in the WRC as if it were new.

With a 277kW (with 34mm restrictor) version of the 2.0-litre Ford Cosworth YB engine, Cossie V2 will have enough AWD grunt to match its aggro livery, designed by Block’s friend and artist Troy Lee.

Ash Thorp, the man behind Cossie V2’s wider shape, earns his bread and butter creating visual effects for films like the Total Recall reboot, or video games such as Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed.

“I actually met Ash through a friend of mine,” Block says.

“I was a fan of his work and it turns out that he was a fan of mine, so we connected and started talking about how it’d be great to work on a project together.

“I had this idea of doing the ‘most crazy’ Ford Escort Cosworth to date as a vehicle to race in 2019 and explained to him how I wanted to incorporate current WRC aero into the build. Ash loved the concept and almost immediately had sent me some ideas and renders.”

Finding someone to do the livery was slightly easier, Block says, as he already knew someone who he had worked closely with in the past.

“I’ve been friends with Troy [Lee] for years,” Block says.

“He’s also done the majority of the helmets for me in my racing career, but this was the first time he and I have collaborated on the actual vehicle graphics, which is awesome.

“I’ve got strong roots to motocross in my past and to be able to bring some of that updated retro vibe through Troy to a car that is itself pretty retro yet updated was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

“I’m stoked with how the car, my race suit and my helmet all turned out.”

Block’s Cossie World Tour will take him (and co-driver Alex Gelsomino) to the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in Salem for March, before heading onward to the Whangarei international rally, with a few more stops confirmed afterward – notably the Goodwood Festival of Speed.