Can you imagine a world without the Focus RS? A dull and insipid world, where economy and environmentalism matter more than making progress or having fun. A world where fast cars are frivolous and antisocial; where our favourite brand is too afraid of causing offence by selling an apparently irresponsible machine.
It’s now knocking on for five years since the great Blue Oval stopped building the last-generation Focus RS, and it’s looking likely there will never be another Rallye Sport Ford.
Yet we’ve heard that story before. Indeed, when Ford cancelled the Escort Cosworth in the mid-1990s, it looked like we’d never see another Blue Oval-badged hot hatch, let alone a full-blown RS. To make matters worse, the first fresh attempt at a sporty Ford – the Racing Puma of 1999 – resulted in poor sales and financial disaster.
But motorsport was still crucial to the brand, and the firm’s 1999 WRC contender was based on the then-new Focus; built by Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport and driven by hardcharging Colin McRae, it scored two wins in its maiden year. It was a marketing opportunity too good to miss.
GO RACING
Initial plans revolved around a Racing-badged Focus, intended from the outset to
