To tide us over until the facelifted Ford Focus ST arrives in 2008, Ford have announced a limited edition of the current ST. The Focus ST500 will come with Panther Black metallic paint, silver bonnet and side stripes, ST500 badging and a red leather interior with Recaro seats.
The colour and stripes are supposedly inspired by the GT40’s classic 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans in 1966, but I doubt many buyers will be aware of the significance. It’ll make a nice change from the almost obligatory Electric Orange paint (a £695 option) that was supposedly going to be of limited availability at launch, but seems to be the choice for the majority of STs on the UK’s roads.
Limited to just 500 units (hence the name), the Focus ST500 includes all of the goodies that come with the top-of-the-line ST3. Power comes from the same turbocharged 2.5 litre 5 cylinder engine (borrowed from Volvo), giving 222bhp and 235 lb/ft of torque. 0-60 comes up in 6.7 seconds and maximum speed is 150mph. The price is £20,495, making it £500 higher than a standard ST3.
