The Ford Focus Rally Car '99 is a rally car produced by Ford. It first appears in Gran Turismo 2.
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.
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
GT2
The player can purchase this car in the special section of the Ford dealership for 500,000 Credits. In addition, this car is one of the rally cars that are available from the start in Arcade Mode. The car comes in two color schemes: white and blue.
GT3
This car can be purchased at the Ford dealership for 350,000 Credits. Alternatively, it can be acquired by winning the Smokey Mountain Rally event. Unlike in GT2, the blue color scheme is not available, leaving white as the only color scheme available.
GT4
This car can be bought at the New Ford dealership for 750,000 Credits. Like in GT3, this car is only available in a white color scheme.
GT PSP
This car can be purchased for 750,000 Credits.
GT5
As a Standard car, the Ford Focus Rally Car '99 can be purchased from the Used Car Dealership for 244,871 Credits. It is a Level 11 car. Like in the previous games, no additional color schemes have since been added.
GT6
This car can be purchased for 250,000 Credits. It is a simplified car. No changes have been made to the car in its current iteration since its initial appearance in GT3.
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 Gran Turismo 2 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.
Pictures
.jpg "Ford Focus Rally Car '99 (Blue).jpg (174 KB)")