Innehållsförteckning för July 2024 från Fast Ford

INTRO SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE! You don’t need us to tell you what a brilliant car the Focus ST170 was. But perhaps some people do need a gentle reminder of what a brilliant car it still is… time, science and technological evolution may have marched on apace over the last couple of decades, but the star of the ST170 has never dimmed; indeed, it’s starting to become celebrated as a true modern classic. A hot hatch hero. One of the greats. Ah, but have we left it too late to celebrate? It’s been such a common thing in the scene to pillage these cars for their engines and swap them into other models that the number of survivors is surprisingly small. As regular readers will know, we bought one for ourselves…

MILLTEK SPORT - SOUND OF THE POLICE! Milltek Sport is helping Devon & Cornwall Police to make all the right noises when it comes to highlighting road safety and engaging with the region’s modified car community, supporting the Force with the supply and installation of a fully ECE-approved system for its innovative Focus RS squad car. The 2016 RS has been ‘in service’ for two years, the project driven by Sergeant Owen Messenger and built in collaboration with the George’s Car Media channel on YouTube. Funding has been provided by Vision Zero South West, a road safety partnership aiming to reduce road deaths in the area. With the initiative’s emphasis on demonstrating how car enthusiasts can modify their vehicles legally, the addition of the Milltek Sport exhaust is perfect for…

MK4 ESCORT ST170 This is an unusual feature, but it fits in perfectly with the ST170 theme of this issue. Why is it out of the ordinary? Well, it was over a decade ago I shot these photos and they’re of my own car! Plus, this is a story of both fun time and regret. The eventual loss of this car was so much of a sore point that I hadn’t looked at, let alone edited these photos until now. Yes, I can be quite over sentimental, but as this car was so significant to me I have good reason. Rewind to the early days of me shooting for this magazine and I was fully immersed in ‘old Ford only’ car ownership. My highly-strung tuned 2.0 Capri daily wasn’t cutting…

Here’s a head-scratcher for you. Consider the following four vehicles, and see if you can figure out what they have in common. First of all, there’s the Transit Connect – the second generation of the compact panel van that came out in 2012. Secondly, the Fusion – the mid-size saloon that sits in the North American market between the Focus and the Taurus. Thirdly, the Mk2 evolution of the compact-crossover Ford Escape. And finally, the Lincoln MKZ, a luxury Stateside saloon that very few people in the UK will have actually heard of. Give up? Well, they’re all cars that were available in the USA with a 2.5-litre version of the Duratec. It’s a configuration of that engine family which we didn’t get over here; also known as the Mazda…

EVENT REPORT GOODWOOD MEMBERS' MEETING WHERE GOODWOOD MOTOR CIRCUIT WHEN APRIL 13TH-14TH There’s always a strong Ford line-up at the Members’ Meeting, and for 81MM it was Mustangs aplenty, as Goodwood celebrated this American icon’s 60th birthday. The feature race of the weekend was the Ken Miles Cup, in which thirty first-gen Mustangs (from 1964-66) joined a bustling grid with two drivers apiece. 1st place went to Andrew Jordan and Michael Whitaker Jr, with David Brabham/Alex Brundle a strong 2nd and Jake Hill/Rob Fenn completing the podium. Craig Davies/Darren Turner, Andy Priaulx/Alex Taylor and Mark Mathieson/Rob Huff were heavily involved in the chase from which Gordon Shedden retired James Thorpe’s car while gunning for a podium place. Ash Sutton deranged the chicane wall when the rear axle of Beau Parry’s…

The Focus ST170 is one of the most underrated fast Fords of all time. It’s also one of the most cannibalised. So many have been pulled apart to donate their highly-tuned Zetec engines, close-ratio six-speed gearboxes, and beefy 300mm braking systems. More often than not, these parts have gone on to form the foundations of some epic builds – you only need to look at some of the awesome feature cars in this issue to see that. But does that mean the Focus ST170 is a bad car? Is it destined to be nothing more than a parts bin for classic Escorts and Fiestas? Of course not! The Focus ST170 is a cracking little car in its own right, and it’s about time it got the recognition it deserves. And…

ORGANISING A SHOW OR EVENT AND WANT IT LISTED HERE? Email us with the details – fastford.ed@kelsey.co.uk JUNE 8-9 JUNE Players Classic Goodwood Motor Circuit https://www.players-show.com/players-classic 28-30 JUNE Modified Nationals Lincoln Showground www.modifiednationals.co.uk/ JULY 6 JULY RS Combe Castle Combe Circuit www.rscombe.com/ 11-14 JULY Goodwood Festival of Speed Goodwood Motor Circuit www.goodwood.com/motorsport/festival-of-speed/ AUGUST 4 AUGUST Fords at the Castle Caldicot Castle www.welshford.com/fordsatthecastle 11 AUGUST Ford Fair Silverstone www.fordfair.co.uk 18 AUGUST Simply Ford Beaulieu https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/simply-ford/ 23-25 AUGUST Silverstone Festival Silverstone https://www.silverstone.co.uk/silverstone-festival-2024-sign 24-25 AUGUST Gravity NEC, Birmingham gravityshow.co.uk SEPTEMBER 22 SEPTEMBER Ford Fest Mallory Park www.fordfestshow.co.uk *CHECK BEFORE YOU GO! While all dates and details were correct at the time of going to press, we urge you to double check info with event organisers before heading off!…

It’s well documented that the Mk1 Focus has a better chassis than it ever strictly needed to have. On paper, the model was destined to be a mainstream everyday hatchback for nipping to the shops and going on the school run and what-have-you, it didn’t need to have incredible handling. But it did, because the engineers really cared. And after all, the Focus’s first job was to replace the Escort, a car that had been winning hearts and making memories since 1968 – and as with the Escort, either in its earlier RWD guises or all the FWD versions that came after, there were always top-tier sporting models to complement the lesser shopper stuff. As you’ll have read in Jamie’s ST170 project feature over on p8-14, the XR/RS heritage was…

FOX-BODY MUSTANG The notion of ‘guilty pleasures’ is a load of crap. There’s no such thing. Life’s too short to be worrying about what other people think and apologising for your own personal tastes. So what if you want to listen to Hall & Oates or curl up on the sofa in front of the Clue movie? You like what you like – it’s not a guilty pleasure, it’s just pleasure. Regan McLaughlin is a firm believer in this. In fact, he doesn’t just believe it, he lives it. “No matter how much money I have in life, my dream car will always and forever be a Fox-body Mustang,” he tells us. “I feel at home in them, and I don’t really think anything can change that.” There’s a clear…

FOCUS SEDAN When the hood is open, most people just think it’s how it came from the factory… but the Ford ST/RS enthusiasts catch it right away,” grins Ryan Scheer, the mastermind behind this intelligently ST-swapped sedan. It’s a car that surprises a lot of people – many will spy the aired-out stance, three-piece rims and itasha graphics and assume it’s a mere show pony, but there’s a hell of a lot of clever engineering under the skin. What started out as a stock SE four-door with a naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre and an auto ’box has morphed into something very different indeed. All of this is informed by a lifetime of mucking about with motors, as Ryan has been up to these shenanigans from day one. “I’ve always been into cars,”…

EVENT REPORT BICESTER SCRAMBLE WHERE BICESTER HERITAGE WHEN APRIL 21ST Bicester Heritage is a brilliantly strange place. The increasingly popular Scramble events draw in a hugely diverse crowd of automotive enthusiasts, from all manner of scenes and eras and proclivities, and it’s this encouragement of diversity that led to a situation whereby we found ourselves stood between a Series 1 RS Turbo and a Countach 5000 S, overhearing a couple of middle-aged fellas discussing which one they’d prefer to take home. You know what? It wasn’t an easy decision for them… For the second Scramble of the year, the organisers pulled out all the stops to ensure that this was the biggest and best one yet. Sure, the cars that are allowed into the inner sanctum of the historic brick…

MK2 ESCORT RS1800 REP Mk2 Escorts have been a popular choice for ST170 engine swaps for some time now, and there’s an overt acceptance of the loss of originality that enables restorers to really go to town with whatever fancy ideas might spring into their heads. In the case of model specialist Montescort back in 2014, that scope for creativity manifested itself in the notion of crafting an RS1800 replica. This was a very good idea indeed, as it hardly needs pointing out here that real RS1800s are vanishingly rare, and the idea of engine-swapping a genuine one would be utterly absurd. For the uninitiated, only 109 Mk2 Escort RS1800s were ever built, and the DVLA reckons just 36 of them are currently on the road. Of course, it never…

FORDS IN MOTORSPORT ACADEMY MUSTANGS Reigning British GT4 champion Erik Evans got his title defence off to a solid start in the 2024 season-opening races at Oulton Park, Cheshire, on Easter Monday. Conditions for Academy’s new model Mustangs, in their British race debut, were atrocious as heavy rain moved in to make the first race more about finishing than winning. Evans’ drive was well-measured with new teammate Marco Signoretti bringing the number 61 Ford Mustang home to a GT4 Silver class championship third-place podium finish. On the other side of the Academy garage Will Moore had bad luck with car 62 after a spin into the muddy outfield ended his run. The second race of the day also started under wet track conditions which removed car 62 from the running at…

EVENT REPORT NATIONAL MUSTANG DAY WHERE BRITISH MOTOR MUSEUM WHEN APRIL 13TH In continuous production ever since it was first introduced to the world on 17th April 1964, Ford’s long-running Mustang nameplate has borne a new seventh-generation. For the car’s 60th birthday Ford put on an extra special event to engage with UK owners, enthusiast clubs and social media groups at the British Motor Museum in Warwickshire. Close to 800 Mustangs and over 2000 people were present, more than double the number for last year’s ‘dry run’. Such was the uptake from UK owners that the Museum car park was no longer big enough, and in a remarkable show of OEM cooperation, the event was relocated to JLR’s employee car park. Even with more than double the number of last…