Blue Lightning, they call it, and it roars up and down the roads of Odda, in Norway, with a clear goal in mind: transport passengers. It's a Ford Focus RS, used by local Evald Jåstad as a taxi, a means to make ends meet in this town of some 7,000 people.
As we can see in the video posted by Ford on Friday, locals seem to have gotten used to having this beast drive them to and fro. They quite enjoy it, and so does Martin, Evald's son, who twice a day gets to ride in his daddy's... office.
Tourists, on the other hand, enjoy it so much more. When they call for a cab (we don't know this for sure, but the Focus RS seems to be the only taxi in the region, apart from a tiny fleet of taxi-buses), they don't expect to see this thing showing up.
Once onboard, the usual cabby-passenger chitchat gets going, until Evald gets sick of it and slams the acceleration. Instantly, fear grips some of the clients, excitement flows through others. And the end of the fare however, they all disembark with a smile on their faces and a photo of the Focus RS taxi in their phones.
“There are not many people who can say they live their dream. But I am definitely one of them,” says Evald Jåstad. “When I drive him to nursery, all the way there, Martin shouts out ‘Bånn gass! Bånn gass! – More gas! More gas!”
The hot hatch has been in Evald's possession for a year and a half. In the time since he's got it, he covered some 127,000 km (78,000 miles.) through the spectacular surroundings in the Trolltunga cliffs.
The Ford Focus RS is powered by a 2.3-liter EcoBoost engine that produces 345 hp. It can accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h (60 mph) in 4.6 seconds and can reach a top speed of 268 km/h (166 mph).
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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