Estimated Price: £55,000 - £65,000

In 2002, Ford launched the Focus RS, returning those famous letters to one of its cars for the first time since the Ford Escort RS Cosworth. The new Focus RS was inspired by Colin McRae's WRC exploits and featured a 2.0-litre Duratec RS engine with an advanced turbocharging system and oil-spray cooled pistons to achieve more power - which eventually peaked at 215bhp and 0-60mph in 6.4 seconds. The chassis was developed and a Quaife torque-biasing differential (when you turned into a corner and applied the power, it dug in like no other front-drive car to make the Focus superlatively quick across country) fitted to ensure optimal front-wheel drive tractability. Suspension was by uprated offset coil springs with Sachs Racing dampers whilst stopping power was provided by Brembo brakes. The cabin was competition-inspired and featured leather and Alcantara Sparco seats. The exterior of the car took a number of styling cues from the WRC car and even used custom 18'' O.Z. Racing alloy wheels as a nod to its competition cousin.

Making the Focus RS this good on back roads meant changing almost every component; in the end the roof, doors and bonnet remained the same as any other three-door Focus, but the rest of the exterior bodywork was new. In all, 521 parts were created just for the Focus RS, from the Sparco seats and handbrake lever, unique dials, and starter button to the suspension and brakes.

Ford built 4,501 Focus RS Mk1s, all individually numbered and all thought to have been sold at a £4,000 loss to the company. Out of that total, 2,147 RS Mk1s were sold in the UK, making it by far the biggest single market for the car that was only sold in Imperial Blue.

The car presented here is a 2002 Ford Focus RS Mk1 and is rightly considered, amongst the UK Ford collectors-community, to be one of best and most original examples still remaining. With only 4,000 miles covered - there’s probably only a handful of lower-mileage examples out there - but, to those-in-the-know - the upper echelons of Ford enthusiasts - this car is a high-watermark for the model. Indeed, it has been owned by some very prominent and knowledgeable Collectors, owners that only covet the top 1% of any particular car. Having spoken to one of them about this example, the reply was "it’s close to perfect", and ‘where’s the next better one coming from?’ – high praise indeed! Originality is key to collector-quality cars, and this Mk1 is just that. Minimally driven, never on wet roads, fastidiously kept and routinely serviced, this is an extremely special Focus RS, whilst also being accompanied by a comprehensive history file and a complete book pack.

Described by EVO magazine as "a blisteringly quick and rewarding machine'"the Mk1 Ford Focus RS continues to solidify itself as an iconic hot hatch, which combines phenomenal pace, purposeful styling, and engrossing handling and this superbly presented collector-quality example is destined to take pride of place in any collection of Performance Fords.