WELCOME TO THE DECEMBER ISSUE!

There's been a lot of rosetinted nostalgia floating around the Fast Ford office in recent weeks – we do love a retro icon from the 80s and 90s... but equally their modern counterparts are properly impressive machines too. So where does that leave us? Do we have to choose one or the other? Or can we enjoy and admire both simultaneously?

Well, I think you can do both. I know I do. So we've put together this bumper 132-page issue that both reflects on the history and pedigree of fast Fords from days gone by, while simultaneously embracing the fantastic Blue Ovals of today too.

There's loads of old-school content in this issue, and not just our regular 'Old School Hero' feature car (which happens to be a crazy RWD, V6 Mk2 Fiesta this month!) or Motorsport Memories feature (on the short but memorable rally career of the RS200 this time), we've also listed what – after much deliberation – we consider to be our Top 10 fast Ford legends. We then asked you guys to vote for your favourite, and the results are in... You can't mention old Fords at the moment without someone talking about prices and values, which got us asking 'what is really going on with the market values of fast Fords these days?' To find out, we then asked five experts, all with different points of interest, to compile a very interesting feature on page 64...

But, like I say, we also embrace the latest fast Fords too. And cars like the Revo-tuned Mk8 Fiesta ST I've been driving recently, and fast Focuses like Nathan Mercer's Mk2 ST and Craig Gosby's 530bhp RS are, put simply, bloody brilliant!

There is so much cool stuff crammed into this issue, and it offers a fantastic snapshot of the entire fast Ford scene. You can get all gushy and nostalgic while remembering the models you lusted after in your youth, yet at the same can keep up to speed on all the latest trends and developments from the modern era. And, for me, that's what being a fast Ford fan is all about; being able to revel in a glorious past while being a part of a promising future too. Enjoy the mag!