The whole point of buying a car is usually to drive it, but some models hardly see the road at all. Case in point: most Ford Focus RS Heritage owners just don’t put theirs on daily drive duty. The UK-exclusive hot hatch is an incredibly rare sight in its own right, but it’s even rarer to see one out on the road.
As a reminder, the Ford Focus RS hot hatch wrapped up production in Sarrlouis, Germany way back in 2018, but before the final example rolled off the assembly line, Ford introduced a special edition model. Dubbed the Ford Focus RS Heritage Edition, each unit was painted in a particularly striking orange hue. YouTuber Shmee150 is the proud owner of one such model, and in a recent YouTube Short video, he ponders why more owners don’t use them.
Shmee explains that there are just 50 examples of the Ford Focus RS Heritage Edition, all painted orange. His own has been decked out with a few details, including matching orange brake calipers, a satin black roof, and a shark fin antenna, although he notes that he’s kept all the original parts because it’s a collector’s vehicle. The model was a tribute to the 1968 Escort Mk I, and he’s only racked up 10,000 miles in total.
Of those 50 models, only 42 of them were ever licensed at once. Throughout the years, that number has dwindled even further. Just eight or nine examples of the bright orange hot hatch are still registered and being driven, including Shmee’s own. Considering its worth, it’s likely that the owners of this model are afraid of depreciation and are content to keep them as a centerpiece rather than a daily driver.
Beyond the orange Ford Focus RS Heritage Edition, The Blue Oval also offered a limited run of Race Red painted units, although it produced 300 of that particular color. The 2016 Focus was quite popular, too, with 1,500 units being sold overseas when it was available.
Shmee, for his part, has a soft sport for Ford. He’s the proud owner of a Ford GT that he took on a cross-U.S. tour, which ended up being surprisingly expensive. He also recently acquired a new Ford Transit van to replace his old one, but made sure it was painted in the same obnoxious pink hue.
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