First-generation Focus with a sharp design on a newly designed platform
The European Ford Meeting 2023 was held on Saturday, November 04, 2023, in Shizuoka Prefecture. The event’s purpose is for owners to exchange information and deepen friendships. About 50 old and new European Fords and their enthusiastic owners came from all over Japan to attend the event. Still, the most distant participant was Mr. Haruhisa Ueda, whose first-generation “Focus” we will introduce here.
European Car of the Year in 1999
It was 1998 when the first generation Focus debuted as the successor to the Ford Escort, the flagship model of Ford of Europe. Up until then, the position of Ford of Europe in Japan was that while motorsports homologation models such as the Cortina Lotus, Escort RS Cosworth, Sierra RS Cosworth, and RS200 were enthusiastically supported by a small number of enthusiasts, mass-market models for general users were “meh. On the other hand, the mass-market models for the general public were “simple and honest, but lacked glamor.”
The first-generation Focus renewed this impression. The first-generation Focus, with its newly designed platform and sharp design, was highly acclaimed as being as good as or better than the VW Golf, which until then had been considered the prototype for the European D-segment meter, and won numerous awards, including the European Car of the Year award in 1999.
“This is actually my second Focus, 2000, as the first one, which I switched from a VW Golf, was given away in an accident, and I couldn’t imagine a replacement,”
said owner Mr. Haruhisa Ueda.
“The price of the new car was very reasonable.
As he said, the strategic pricing at the time was also a topic of conversation. I’m sorry to say this on a personal note, but I too have had the experience of driving two first-generation Focuses, and I can understand Mr. Ueda’s feelings very well. Although not outstanding in any particular way, it was, in a sense, the perfect practical car, with absolutely no elements of concern or dislike that one would find objectionable, no matter how long one continued to drive it. It is said that at one time the Focus family’s production volume exceeded that of the VW Golf to become the largest in the world, and it is not hard to see why.
Mr. Ueda’s Focus was a Ghia model with a body color called Stardust Silver. This was the most common specification seen at the time.
The car with no other choice
“I left Sapporo and took a ferry to Niigata. After that, I drove overland on my own to Hamamatsu.”
This is a prize for a long trip to an event. Except for replacing the wheels with Fiesta ones, the car has been kept in good original condition since it was new. After 23 years of driving the car since it was new, it must have some damage, right?
“I try to replace the engine timing belt and other parts as soon as possible. The rear suspension bearings have rattled and had to be replaced, and the steering rack also rattled and had to be replaced, but the local store takes care of these things and has been very helpful.”
“This may be the last Focus, at least in Sapporo, although the first generation Focus was seen in Hokkaido to a certain extent at the time. My family seems to be disappointed that I continue to drive it so persistently, but it is a car that I would not trade for anything else, so I will continue to take good care of it.”