In the 1960s and 70s, Ford became interested in motorsport and released the Ford Cortina Lotus. A faster, more driver-focused version of the standard Cortina. The Lotus Cortina was incredibly successful as a racecar and rally car for an extended period. This Lotus version was known for being incredible to drive and surprisingly fast for a 4-door family saloon car. Not only was it a brilliant racer, but it also massively helped sales of the standard Cortina from the publicity it received.

Ford noticed this success and decided to keep this trend going with their next cars. And thus, the Escort RS1600 was born. The generation of fast Fords flourished across the UK and Europe through to the early 2000s. Once the reign of the Ford Escort RS2000 ended in early 2001, it seemed as though the dominance of fast Fords had come to an end. With affordable performance cars constantly reaching new heights in terms of power and handling. It didn't look like Ford could keep up, with the mk1 Focus RS and Mondeo STs not quite able to reach the notoriety that previous fast Fords could achieve.

That is until 2009, when Ford unveiled the mk2 Focus RS. This new generation seemed to herald the return of the great Fords the world lusted over. Packing a 300bhp turbocharged 2.5-litre inline five-cylinder engine with vast amounts of torque and returns to the trend of outrageous styling similar to that of the Sierra RS Cosworth. It was a true return to form for Ford and brought their name back into the world of affordable, high-performance road cars.

Including some genius innovations such as the RevoKnuckle front-suspension design, which tamed the typical tendency for torque steer that plagued high-powered front-wheel-drive cars. The mk2 Ford Focus RS was the definitive return for proper hot-hatchbacks.