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Regular Cars Reviews Focus ZX3 SVT, the ST's Ancestor

We kind of missed the old Regular Car Reviews, the ones that talked about repressed sexual urges and doing weird things to farm animals in bathrooms. But even though this famous Youtuber's videos have gotten a little more mainstream, there are some advantages to this, such as access to cool, rare rides, like the 2003 Ford Focus ZX3 SVT.
Regular Cars Reviews Focus ZX3 SVT 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
"What's that?" we hear you ask. It's proof that Ford made euro cars and didn't even know it, a badge-engineered version of the first generation Focus ST that needed the "Special Vehicle Team" badge to break into the American market and pick a fight with the Honda Civic, which was also kind of… Euro at the time.

Only in 2013 did Ford sell the Focus ST "as is" to American consumers. It's currently widely recognized as a superior car to the Civic Si and we might have to thank the ZX3 for the heritage it brings to the table.

Way back a little over a decade ago, Ford went for a naturally aspirated 2-liter Duratec engine in this baby, making 170 hp and 145 pound-feet of twisting force (196 Nm). It could do 0 to 60 in about 7 seconds and had a top speed of 134 mph (216 km/h). That might not sound like much, but back in the day, it could keep up with a BMW 320Ci, which is what every boy racer dreams of doing.

As an interesting backdrop to this story, we found a top on focusst.org, a specialized forum for ST fans, where people are talking about how to get Mister Regular to review one of their cars. The yellow one in the clip belongs to somebody who uses the nickname "booloobunny" and was filmed back in July.

Editor's note: Honda haters gonna hate!
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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