- Outside of the Mustang, Ford doesn’t make cars anymore. Here’s one that some would call its best.
- With a manual transmission, all-wheel drive, and a high-strung turbocharged engine, it’s a rally car for the road.
- This one is the right color, low mileage, and from the final year for the RS.
Apart from the Mustang (which worryingly has seen a falloff in sales this year), Ford doesn’t sell cars any more, just SUVs, trucks, and crossovers. This is more than a bit of a bummer if you grew up with a small Ford in the driveway, as the company has some great hits in its back catalogue. The original Taurus SHO was kind of like a working-man’s BMW M5, and the last Fiesta ST was more fun that cars costing twice as much. But if forced to pick the last great compact car to wear the blue oval, there’s one obvious choice.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerThat’s the Focus RS, like this 2018 model for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos). This is the last of the breed, a 2018 model in Nitrous Blue, even spec’d without a sunroof for a better center of gravity.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerThe Focus RS is basically the best WRX STI that Subaru never built. It got a turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder good for 350 horsepower, torque-vectoring all wheel drive, and even a selectable Drift mode. It absolutely ripped, equal in performance to Honda’s Civic Type-R but with more grip when the weather wasn’t cooperating.
Courtesy: Bring a TrailerThis is a nicely preserved example with just 46K miles on the odometer. Apart from some lowering springs—from Whiteline, a well-known specialist among the Subaru faithful—it’s pretty much in factory trim with a clean history and no previous collisions noted. There are a few cosmetic blemishes here and there, but that just means you’re free to get out and drive it.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerTo do so is to experience a higher-tech version of the joy behind an original Escort Cosworth. On this side of the Atlantic, we didn’t get the best quick compacts Ford made, as delivering performance was mostly the job of the Mustang. Overseas, the RS badge was legendary among fast Ford fans, and the Focus RS was our chance at tasting some forbidden fruit.Related StoriesIt’s a pretty unforgiving car in some ways, not least the front Recaro seats that are so heavily bolstered as to border on fat-shaming. Having said that, it’s not just peak Ford performance compact, but a car with a performance envelope that’ll have it keeping up with much higher-dollar machinery. This example has General tires fitted to its 19-inch wheels, but if you throw a set of fresh OEM Michelin Pilots on there, it’ll have you feeling like you’re possessed by the spirit of Ken Block.
The Ford Mustang GTD’s recent sub-seven minute lap of the Nürburgring is certainly something to crow about. But, used to be, you didn’t need to drop $300,000-plus dollars to get the best the blue oval was capable of. Here’s your chance at the pinnacle of fast Ford compact performance.The auction ends on May 7.Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.
Source: caranddriver.com
