The Ford Focus Rally Car '99 is a rally car produced by Ford. It first appeared in Gran Turismo 2 and has been featured in all subsequent mainline games up to Gran Turismo 6.
As the car doesn't show a driver number and lacks the distinctive Martini livery, the car is not based on an actual competitor, but rather the 1999 pre-season Test Car, driven by Colin McRae, Petter Solberg and Simon Jean-Joseph prior to the 1999 WRC season.
Colors[]
There is only one color (two in GT2) available for this vehicle:
- White
- Blue (GT2 only)
In-game description[]
"Driven by famous drivers like Colin McRae. Its allure will never fade away."
Ford, a longtime participant in the World Rally Championship, had for the better part of the 1990s always competed with its Escort model. But on the cusp of a new millennium, the company introduced an all-new race car with the 1999 season, the Ford Focus, a vehicle that in just a few short years would, for a time, claim the title as the world's best-selling passenger car.
Its engine was mounted transversely, just like in the production car, but its Xtrac transmission was placed longitudinally in an effort to try to improve upon the vehicle's weight distribution. Ford's main rival at the time in the WRC, Peugeot, also employed a similar layout in their 206. In comparison to the French car, the structural rigidity of the Focus far surpassed that of its rival.
Ford also had a stellar driver lineup: legendary rally driver Colin McRae was on the cars, as were Petter Solberg, Thomas Radstrom, and Simon Jean-Joseph.
In its racing debut, the Focus's water pump was found to be in violation of the regulations. But despite having to undergo hurried modifications, it proved highly competitive from Day One. McRae made steady progress by leveraging his and the car's strengths, and the Focus WRC machine scored its first victory in the third stop of the season, the challenging Safari Rally, and went on to win the next race as well at the Portugal Rally.
Acquisition[]
| Game | Buy From Location | Credits | Win From Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gran Turismo 2 | Ford Dealership | 500,000 | --- |
| Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec | Ford Dealership | 350,000 | Smokey Mountain Rally |
| Gran Turismo 4 Prologue | --- | --- | Complete Lesson # 17 in Driving School |
| Gran Turismo 4 | Ford Dealership | 750,000 | --- |
| Gran Turismo PSP | Ford Dealership | 750,000 | --- |
| Gran Turismo 5 | Used Car Dealership | 244,871 | --- |
| Gran Turismo 6 | Ford Dealership | 250,000 | --- |
Trivia[]
- This particular car isn't based on any version that actually raced; instead it is based on a prototype that was tested by the Ford team prior to the 1999 WRC season. When Ford's team eventually expanded after the Focus' immediate success on the World Rally stage, a third car was added to the duo of Martini-liveried Focuses that bore an unsponsored white scheme with the Ford logo, very similar to the example presented in the game. From 2001 onwards, the Ford logo was changed to an "RS" logo. After the 2002 Rally Monte Carlo, this third car had its livery inverted to white-on-blue, similar to the second scheme available in GT2. For its final year in 2003, the scheme was reverted to blue-on-white, before switching to the actual Ford Focus RS WRC with two different sponsor liveries (BP and Castrol) in 2004.
- Between the release of versions NTSC V1.0 and NTSC V1.1 of GT2 in North America, the small Valvoline logos on the doors above the number were removed. This may be related to the unauthorized use of Mark Martin's 1999 Taurus NASCAR, where Valvoline was the premier sponsor for that car at the time. The logos were reinstated in GT3, but were removed once again in GT4 and onwards.
- In early versions of GT2, the car was known as the Ford Focus '99WRC Gr.A. The name is incorrect, as the Focus was built to the then-current World Rally Car regulations.
- The car's blue color in GT2 is derived from the presentation model of the car. The car's windshield banner in that game is also derived from the presentation model.
- In GT2, the car incorrectly features a sunroof in all versions of the game.
- This car also appears in Gran Turismo Concept, but it's unplayable. It does, however, appear as a CPU car.
Pictures[]
.jpg "Ford Focus Rally Car '99 (Blue).jpg (174 KB)")
.jpg "Ford Focus Rally Car '99 (GT3).jpg (24 KB)")
Videos[]
