If nothing else, the current economic woes that have besieged the U.S. and the world in general have taught us once again the immutable truth that hindsight is always 20/20 sharp. With the automobile industry enduring its time in the public and congressional spotlight as of late, there has been a veritable smorgasbord of "experts" in and out of the industry who have emerged with various explanations as to the cause of the current predicament faced by the auto manufacturers globally. Here in the U.S., one of the most critical arguments placed before the Big Three automakers has been not just the quality of the cars or the perceived lack thereof, but also the type of machines that have been made available for purchase. Many feel that U.S. automakers may have been late to the hybrid, fuel efficiency, green table with the Japanese apparently at the forefront. Agree or not, such matters of U.S. automaker offerings is for another article and probably another magazine.
But the idea of manufacturer offerings, both domestic and foreign, is very much what we are about. Certainly, I have more than once enviously leafed through the pages of an automotive rag showing European offerings from U.S. companies that ultimately will never make the trek to our shores. But it really hasn't been hybrids or other so termed "responsible" machines available elsewhere that typically drew my attention. Instead, my perusals and subsequent lusts were focused on the performance models of American-made cars that were built solely for sale elsewhere and became forbidden fruit here at home
Perhaps one of the most notable of these cars was the Ford Cosworth-powered Escort that was based on the World Rally Championship machine that dominated the series in the hands of such notables as Carlos Sainz. While in the States we ultimately received a FWD version of the Escort with some snazzy body work that was labeled the GT, in the UK the car was a 240hp, turbocharged, AWD monster that carried with it a cult-like following. Sound like something that a couple of Japanese companies currently sell here?
Following and slightly overlapping the Escort came the Focus, the second "World Car" offered by Ford, and again a proper WRC car was developed that enjoyed more than its share of success with the dynamic duo of co-pilot Nicky Grist and the late and truly great Colin McRae. Although Ford's SVT performance group was tapped to build an enhanced version of the Focus for street use in the U.S., hoping apparently to capitalize on the popularity of the AWD 300hp WRC version, the powers that be appeared to give SVT little breathing room. The more-than-capable engineers on Ford's Special Vehicle Team thus did what they could, and came up with a FWD with exceptional handling prowess but a mere 170 hp. In light of Subaru's WRX and Mitsubishi's EVO line, which seemed to provide the American performance driving public with street legal rally cars, the hopped-up Focus was admittedly a disappointment.
Arguments can be made that the Japanese companies in this case were small enough to be able to maneuver themselves to take advantage of what at first was perceived to be a niche market. Whatever the reason, I had always wished that Ford had brought over the Cosworth Escort, had built a beefier SVT version of the Focus or simply took the gamble that Subaru and Mitsubishi did. There is, of course, still hope with the Focus RS, and hopefully it will make it to the U.S. in time. For those who can't wait but still love the idea of a hot-rod Focus, there aren't a lot of options. Don't tell that to Steve Learned, though, as he owns one of the cleanest SVT Focuses I've ever seen.
By Mike Speck
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