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The McRae Enduro rally car has won the prestigious Idea of the Year at the 2007 Autocar Awards in Britain - and been dedicated to the late Colin McRae by the team behind it.
The rally car, which will be competing in races including the 6000 km Dakar Rally, is powered by a 165kW 2.7 litre V6 turbo-diesel engine built by Ford at its Dagenham engine plant. The engine is based on the 2.7 litre found in the Land Rover Discovery 3 and Peugeot 40, and drives all four wheels of the Enduro via a six-speed manual ZF gearbox.
Christopher Bibb, commercial director of the McRae Enduro operation, said: "Rally driver Alister McRae, the younger brother of Colin, is our chief test driver. As soon as testing started, Colin was keen to drive the Enduro but, for many reasons, that never quite happened and, sadly, now never will. We therefore dedicate our award to Colin McRae - one of Britain's greatest sportsmen."
Chris Harrison, director of Ford component sales, said it made sense for smaller manufacturers to team up with large companies because development costs were kept to a minimum, while quality and reliability were assured. The prototype will compete in its first event, the Saudi Arabia Baja, in February 2008.
