For decades, compact cars from Dearborn were miserable. Blue Oval enthusiasts in North America looked longingly at the rally-bred Escorts in the UK and Europe, wondering when the promised “world car” would cross the Atlantic.
Improbably, I was one of those guys. I bought a 2000 Focus sedan (ZTS model with the twincam Zetec) with six months and 6000 miles on the odo, and flogged it for seven years and about a dozen recalls. Should have listened to my Dad, who always warned against buying a first-year model.
These days, we have it good, with FiSTs and FoSTs, and a real RS on the horizon. But in those dreary days of the early aughts, the only compact with sporting intentions came with the SVT badge, like this 2004 model. A couple dozen seem to be up for grabs across the web at any given time, so these aren’t particularly unusual or rare. The $6k price tag seems to be the middle of the typical range.
Nonetheless, the SVT Focus is a great hot-hatch bargain, with plenty of potential on track or in autocross. Despite my flawed history with the nameplate, I’d love to see a blue five-door in my driveway.
The post Crapwagon Outtake: 2004 Ford Focus SVT appeared first on The Truth About Cars.
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