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Since 1999, the Focus has become Ford's latest World Rally Championship contender. It's predecessor was the Escort WRC which was moderately successful, but did not succeed in winning the Constructors Championship. To date (April 2004) the Focus has failed to win either the drivers or constructors Rally Championship, despite many wins over the past 5 seasons. It became a proven Rally winner, both for Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz (both previous winners of the Drivers Championship) but bad luck has prevented either of them from winning a championship in the Focus. It is a contemporary World Rally Car (WRC) with a highly tuned, turbocharged four cylinder engine producing approximately 300bhp, and an advanced four wheel drive system for maximal traction. The cost per car was in 1999 approximately £300,000 sterling! However, when it wins, the publicity for Ford outweighs the cost of the Rally program.

Colin McRae was in 1999 nominally the number one driver for Ford, a fact which did not sit well with Carlos Sainz who had more wins in his past, mostly with Toyota.

This model represents McRae's car from the 1999 Monte Carlo rally which was the debut rally for the Focus. McRae did extremely well and finished in the top 3. Unfortunately for McRae and Ford, the water pump was found to be illegal, as it was larger than the standard road cars pump. The rules stated that the pump could not differ in size from that on the road car but Ford had used a larger pump as the standard pump was not able to cope with the rigors of a rally. Consequently McRae and Ford were disqualified from the rally and had to revert back to the standard pump for the next few rallies. Unreliability became a problem until a standard size strengthened pump could be developed.

AUTOart are the manufacturers of this Focus, and consequently it is a good model. It is very well made and accurate in scale. The interior is well made with "suede" covering on the dashboard and the steering wheel. The engine compartment is realistically represented, and the rear hatch opens fully but not until you undo some small screws underneath the car which hold it shut. Many collectors that I have communicated with have reported problems with the decals on AUTOart models coming off in their hands. The only model I have had this problem with is the AUTOart Panoz LeMans car (a Motorola decal on the nose came loose, but I was able to fix it with "decal setting" solution). This model should not have the same problem as the markings are "tampos" which is a method by which the "decals" are painted directly onto the model, and not decals of the "water slide" variety. Hence they should be far more durable.

This is a high quality model but was pricey here in Ireland (I paid £65 Irish Pounds for it which was at the time approximately $75 USD). In fact, the high local price of subsequent AUTOart releases here in Ireland have led to most of my models now being purchased over the internet. Overall it is a great model to add to a collection, especially if you like rally cars!