Purchased in Northern Ireland in March 2014, this car was then taken back down south. After going through the VRT process and getting the car re-registered it was time to get to work.

Before work could begin it was time for the Ford Fair 2014 road trip. The Focus was great on the road trip with its upgraded Pioneer headunit for blasting out all the road trip classics with a freshly topped up air-con system made for comfortable motoring in 35 degree weather.

During a track session at Ford Fair around the Silverstone National Circuit it became apparent that the brakes needed work. Coming into Brooklands doing 100 mph and hitting the brakes was not the time to find this out. The discs on the car were warped nearly enough to shake the wheel out of your hands. After the track session a quick look around the autojumble sale resulted in a full ST170 upgrade kit which included EBC drilled & grooved discs with calipers and Green Stuff pads being added to the luggage for the return trip home.

Next up, it was time to source everything else needed for the build, starting with a set of MP3 wheels which were found in a mate’s shed of forgotten parts. A quick refurb and it was off to paint. After been giving a general idea of what was wanted, it was left up to the only family member with a paint booth to get the job done, who just so happened to to be refurbing a set of Subaru STI alloys that same week and had some paint left over. Decision made and everyone was happy with the finished result.

Extra parts including ST headlights, grilles, trip computer and leather steering wheel were sourced from a Ford breakers in the UK. Unfortunately the first package never made it as it was discovered crushed by the courier, to the extent the headlights had been smashed beyond recognition. A replacement package was sent out two weeks later only to go missing. The package was found a month later only to have never left the collection point. The faith was kept and the package eventually arrived. Apex 30mm lowering springs were found on a national classifieds site for a bargain price along with near new shocks thrown into the deal.

Only one thing missing, US spec tail lights. After much searchin
g around owners clubs and ebay, a perfect set could not be found. Eventually a deal was struck with a Focus Enthusiast in Arkansas, USA who gladly sent a clean set over. After a small modification to make the indicator bulbs fit, they were ready to go.

With brand new Federal 595s fitted to the freshly painted alloys it was time to get everything on the car and ready for road again.

For now that is all there is to know about this Ford Focus, but as many of you know, a project like this is never finished…

UPDATE February 2017:

I may have said before that projects like this are never finished… well there is always an exception to the rule. Unfortunately due to terminal rust this project is finished with. During the summer this Focus went in for its NCT test and failed badly on rust. At first inspection it was a bit of rust on the chassis, nothing we hadn’t seen before… but on further inspection it was a lot worse than first expected. From the top of drivers side rear wheel arch down to the sill the whole way to the front of the car had rusted. In some places the side of the car was no longer attached to the chassis. There was no way to fix this and still have the car safe on the roads.

All is not lost though, as you may have seen we are currently building a new track car out of another Ford Focus, a rare three door rust free shell. All of the good parts left from Luigi such as wheels, tyres, lights, brakes and other parts will be used in the new track car. In a way the Spirit of Luigi lives on.

Keep an eye out to see the new track car build post coming out.