ANDY LAMBERT MK1 FOCUS
Andy bought this 2001 Focus as a standard 1.8 Zetec from an elderly man who’d retired from driving.
“I was sold the car on the promise I would look after it,” Andy says. “I’ve taken things a bit further than that.”
Initially, Andy’s plans revolved around a simple stripped-out, budget track car with minimal mods but he soon found the 1.8-litre Zetec a little sluggish.
“I knew the Mk1 has a good chassis and was capable of handling a lot more power,” he says.
Fortunately, Andy was able to source various bolt-on parts such as the brakes, exhaust, front wings and wheels from the RS version, though the majority of the car’s impressive inventory came from elsewhere.
Andy says, “The 2.0-litre Zetec is fully forged and has a GT28 hybrid turbo, uprated cams and runs with an Omex 600 ECU. It produced 400bhp, but I’ve detuned it to 320bhp, which is more controllable.”
KW coilovers sort the suspension, while the stripped interior, complete with Recaro seats, extra gauges and an impressive home-built roll cage keeps the kerb weight to a minimum. Andy tells us it didn’t stay a budget build for long, though he reckons the whole project has worked out at less than a genuine Mk1 RS would cost. More importantly, it’s no longer a slouch on track, and has performed well at his local circuit of Castle Combe.
QUICK SPEC Forged 2.0-litre Zetec, GT28 hybrid turbo, uprated cams, vernier pulleys, Omex ECU, Focus RS exhaust, Focus RS wheels, brake callipers and front wings, IB5 gearbox with Quaife LSD, Recaro seats, extra gauges, self-built roll cage, 320bhp