Ford was really late to the party on the front-drive sport compact thing with their Focus SVT...albeit, not as late as GM with the Cobalt SS, but being the second loudest drunken idiot at the party doesn't exactly make you a saint. Like the selection of available dates on Kentucky's state funded tinder app, it's all relative. Find this 2002 Ford Focus SVT here on eBay offered for $7,500 buy-it-now or make-offer. Tip from mrkwong. This
post is part of DT's 2016 Birthday Celebration of 100 cars;
enjoy the ride!
The formula to make the Focus get SVT'd was simple: Take the standard 2.0 liter Zetec inline-4 cylinder engine from the basic Focus and hand it to the folks at Cosworth, who bumped the compression up, added a high flow DOHC aluminum cylinder head, and tubular 4-2-1 exhaust headers. These mods all work together to make 170 horsepower (up 40hp from the base model). Finally, a six speed manual gearbox (sourced from Getrag and shared with BWM's Mini Cooper S) was added to bring the full performance vision into focus.
Find another Special Vehicle for your Team? tips@dailyturismo.com
Except for the price being 300% too high, there isn't really much to note here except that......? Hmmmm, second thought.
ReplyDeleteOh the Kentucky incest comment was funny and 100% accurate. I read it on FB.
These are brilliant cars to drive and a very useful size/shape, though my preference would be for a blue or silver four-door with the Recaro package and HIDs - of which I gather they sold about five. The transaxle is basically the same as the first-gen BMW Mini and will take the same Quaife diff.
ReplyDeleteThere are two downsides.
One is that it's a Ford, and Ford believes their obligation to provide spares for their low-production orphans ends about thirty seconds after the model goes out of production.
Second is that the later turbo Cobalt SS is even better (and in two-door form somewhat uglier), if not as well trimmed, and you can get one with the helical LSD already in there as factory equipment.
I had one of these and loved it, even more so after a few mods. Diablo tuner, high flow Cat and Ford Racing springs/shocks, the thing was a blast to drive. Quality was much better than the SVT Contour I had several years before.
ReplyDelete