Alex Unleashed on Cars- Ford Focus MK1 (All the Car You Could Need)

 

If you read my Greatest Cars Ever, you’ll know I championed the Ford Focus as one of the greatest cars ever made and I’ll stand by my decision. For those of you who didn’t read that blog, I championed it because it was such a giant leap forward over the old Escort and its various rivals, and in general was a great car in all aspects particularly as it was both a nice car to drive but was also well built.

The Focus was actually teased all the way back in late 1995, where frankly, it looked out of this world, especially when most other cars of that type and time were boxy and looked like saloons with the boot chopped off.  Amongst the various plans for the Focus included a planned a Mazda sourced V6 engine option though that was later scrapped. Either way, everyone was excited at the prospect of the Focus going on sale in the near future. So, if the hype when the Focus was teased was high, then the excitement when it reached show rooms in late 1998 was ecstatic. And unlike say the Peugeot 206, the Focus was both an exciting design and a genius piece of engineering thanks to its clever control blade rear suspension that made it such an entertaining car to drive, but it was also much better built than its predecessor, making it a genuinely good alternative to the rather bland Vauxhall Astra, the exotic but ultimately poor Fiat Brava, the unloved Golf mk4, awkward Toyota Corolla and the Peugeot 306. If there was anything against the Focus, it was both Ford’s dealer network and the price of £13,000 but a high asking price but for such a complete package is so no big deal.

At a time where manufacturers were selling mediocrity as a dream, Ford was selling excellence. It really is hard to downplay how radical the Focus was even in just styling terms I mean it still looked good even when it was replaced at the end of 2004.

Now whilst the standard Focus and the TDCI diesels were great cars, arguably the best Focus was the RS, which in of itself is an interesting story. Basically, it was originally called the Focus Cosworth and was going to be a 300 BHP 4-wheel drive rally car for the road, think Mitsubishi EVO, Subaru Impreza kind of car, they even built 4 prototypes for motor shows. But much like with the Jaguar XJ220, it didn’t come out as many had hoped. The reason for this was supposedly because the Focus unlike the Escort before didn’t need a Hail Mary saviour, so instead we got a 212 BHP front wheel drive Super-Hot Hatch. But, like the aforementioned XJ220 it was still brilliant. It really did bring in a new age of super powerful hot hatches packing more than 200 BHP, 0-60 in less than 7 seconds and top speeds around 150 MPH, ending the mild hot hatch era that had come about after insurance skyrocketed in the 80s, the early 2000’s saw the rise of some truly legendary hot hatches like the: Honda Civic-R, VW Golf R32, Alfa 147 GTA and the Renault Clio V6, all following the Focus RS’ example. Whilst some road testers claimed it drove poorly on the road, that was overshadowed by just how good of a package the RS was, pity it was only on sale for a year.

Overall, I think the Focus is quite underrated, it defined the way hatchbacks were styled for the next decade and in any almost any spec provided everything the modern motorist could want from a car, pity it is to be axed next year and was the most scrapped car of 2023, hopefully others realize just how great it is, before it ends up endangered.

Year Produced: 1998-2004

Engine: 1.4 – 2.0 Litre Turbo 4 cylinder

Top Speed: 106 - 149 MPH

Power: 74 - 212 BHP

Torque: 91 - 229 Ib/ft

0-60: 14.7 - 6.4 Seconds

Weight: 1150 – 1364 kg

Price: £13,000 - £19,995

Rivals: Vauxhall Astra MK4, Volkswagen Golf MK4, Peugeot 306/307, Honda Civic, Renault Megane I & II