02-11-2010, 01:07 AM
While the rest of us think "rallying", the Swiss look at their snow-capped mountains and think "skiing". That's largely because the Swiss are not known to be car people. But for every rule there's an exception.
In Switzerland those exceptions include the efforts of notable speed-freaks like Peter Sauber (of F1 fame), Frank Rinderknecht (Rinspeed) and Franco Sbarro (the flamboyant coachbuilder ââ¬â not the food-court pizza guy). And we can now add Ford to that list, as the Detroit automaker's Swiss subsidiary is rolling out a special edition Focus RS to pay tribute to the 40th anniversary of the company's iconic RS division, exclusively for the Swiss market.
Although mechanically identical to the existing Focus RS ââ¬â not much change needed there ââ¬â the Focus RS WRC edition wears a special livery submitted and chosen through an online forum. Black and green decals overlay a white background, complimented by blacked-out 19" OZ Superturismo GT alloys, while inside, a special plaque carries the Hancocks of Ford's top rally ace Mikko Hirvonen and his co-pilot Jarmo Lehtinen.
Only 50 examples will be offered, exclusively in Switzerland at a price of 55,900 Swiss francs ââ¬â equivalent to about $53k in American greenbacks and representing a 2000-franc premium over the standard Focus RS. We'll see if we can grab a closer look when we descend upon the multilingual alpine nation for the Geneva Motor Show next month, but in the meantime you can view Our Gallery
And if some of you longtime readers think that a 50-unit Focus WRC special edition sounds familiar, well, it should. Back in 2007, The Euro Oval did a similar package based on the Focus ST.
DruZX3 You Tube Page
My Rides on Car Domain
2001 Ford Focus ZX3 - Daily Driver
2008 Lincoln MKX Limited Edition - Grocery Getter
2007 Suzuki GSXR 600 - Rode and Sold
2004 Jeep Liberty Renegade - Offroaded and Sold
2008 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited X - R.I.P. Electrical Fire
2000 Ford Focus ZX3 - Traded in Now DrunkinMonkeys Car
2003 Ford Taurus Wagon - Inherited Drove and Sold
2000 Ford Focus ZX3 Turbo - Award Winning 336 WHP - Parted and Scraped
1990 Ford Festiva - My 1st Car
My Rides on Car Domain
2001 Ford Focus ZX3 - Daily Driver
2008 Lincoln MKX Limited Edition - Grocery Getter
2007 Suzuki GSXR 600 - Rode and Sold
2004 Jeep Liberty Renegade - Offroaded and Sold
2008 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited X - R.I.P. Electrical Fire
2000 Ford Focus ZX3 - Traded in Now DrunkinMonkeys Car
2003 Ford Taurus Wagon - Inherited Drove and Sold
2000 Ford Focus ZX3 Turbo - Award Winning 336 WHP - Parted and Scraped
1990 Ford Festiva - My 1st Car