Description
2004 Mk1 Focus ST170 - 2001 Network Q Rally of Great Britain Mark Higgins WRC Replica - The WRC170.
81, 000 miles approx - being used so will go up slightly. Registered in the Isle of Man so would MOT and registering in UK. This would be undertaken by the buyer at their own expense. Cherished reg not included - Isle of Man buyers can discuss. Has been well maintained and any repairs completed - have cambelt history etc. Have original sales invoice etc.
All of the modifications are based on the WRC car X3 FMC when driven by Mark Higgins at the 2001 Rally GB. Not everything was available/ within my budget but I have been as faithful as possible. Before I decided to put the decal kit on the I had come up with the idea of calling the car the WRC170 as if it was a factory option fitted by Ford so it features custom badges etc around the car, more info below. Car was bought as standard road car in early 2021 with 66k miles on clock and modified over approx one year period.
Base car was top spec model with air con, 6 CD changer etc.
Features:
- Fibreglass WRC style front bumper with aluminium mesh grills.
- Original Hella ST170 fog lights modified to fit new bumper, custom made brackets and uprated to 100W bulbs.
- Concealed battery isolator switch with removable key.
-Bonnet lock removed and fitted with bonnet pins. Bonnet painted white underneath like WRC cars.
- Fibreglass WRC bonnet vents (moulded from original car) with aluminium mesh.
-Fibreglass lamp pod with 4x100W lamps. Fast release connectors to fix to bonnet, All correctly wired with relays to come on with main beam and also override switches to turn on/ off. Marine socket in bonnet and waterproof connection at bonnet hinge for easy unplug if bonnet removal necessary
- Power steering pipes painted white to match WRC car.
- Swapped to base model headlights to match WRC car.
- Headlight washer jets blocked off at tank outlet.
- Rocker cover painted black to match WRC car.
- Custom cast Pewter WRC170 badge on top of rocker cover.
- Direnza performance induction kit with K&N dry charger waterproof cover.
- Toyosports 4 branch manifold and decat pipe.
-Sportex performance cat-back system.
- Rear arch liners removed and area cleaned and undersealed.
-Rally mudflaps.
-Original ST170 multispokes repainted white with ford Puma aluminium center caps.
- Pirelli Cinturato P7 Tyres - Tyre side profile increased from
- Fibreglass roof scoop - non-functional.
-Fibreglass WRC boot spoiler
-Magnetic aerials on roof to match WRC car.
- Full decal kit including additional custom made decals to match Higgin's car as well as small tributes to both Colin McRae and Richard Burns.
-Mirrors have been fully colour coded to watch WRC car.
-Rubbing strips down side of car removed and holes filled over and repainted.
-Team Heko wind deflectors
-Bluefin remap - comes with device to remove/ read codes.
-Gearbox counterweight removed to improve shifting (comes with car)
- Upgraded to single mass flywheel and performance clutch approx 75k miles.
- Sparco bucket seats and runners with custom made cushion from original blue seat fabric to tie into the rest of the car.
- Air bag model swapped to very basic car which only had front airbags so no airbag light.
- 3 point sabelt harnesses.
-6 point safety devices bolt in cage
-Additional manual fan switch
-Limited edition WRC Gear knob.
- Sparco steering wheel on OMP boss.
- Rear seats modified to fit around cage - keeps boot separate and can squeeze third passenger in if careful of cage.
- Rear seat headrests all replaced by centre style short versions to give better rear visibility and show off Sparco seat branding from behind like the WRC car. (Original headrests can be included).
- Rear seatbelts have sablet padding to match front.
-Custom 3d printed RS style build number on centre console which has been painted satin black as has radio surround.
-Custom 3D printed WRC170 badge on roll cage
- Custom WRC170 decals on tread plates.
- Grab handles blanked off to clear cage - sunvisors can still be used with care.
- Gauges have been fitted to base model as I prefer the black gauges - makes the additional white oil temp and pressure gauges stand out more, more in keeping with classic ford RS models and less glarey at night! I had originally modified the ST170 cluster with WRC170 stickers and these will be included in the sale. Note - this does mean there is a discrepancy in the mileage. I have photos of both clocks when they were swapped as evidence, current clocks read 3567 miles too high.
-Rear bumper swapped to pre-facelift style without rubbing strip and colour coded to match WRC car.
-interior light swapped to base model as I find it prettier! Can include original. Ideal for someone who wants a Rally inspired show car, retaining comfortable exterior etc! Goes brilliantly around a track. Few extra bits such as fire extinguishers and sump guard and could be nice Group N rally car.
A great fun car to drive and turns lots of heads. Wish I'd had time to do more events in it, more projects forces sale! Fantastic opportunity to get a WRC style road car without the price tag of the RS.
The whole idea behind my WRC170 build was 'what if' Ford had offered a WRC package from the factory. I couldn't afford an RS and even if I could I was disappointed with how dissimilar they are to the actual rally car so I thought it would've been cool if Ford had offered WRC packages for both the ST170 and RS models for rally fans.
I tried to get as close to possible as to the WRC shell within the bounds of budget, availability and the base shell. Other than arch sizing/ flaring its pretty well spot on. Even the RS doesn't get that right - the diameter on the WRC car was much larger and different wheelbase to arch sat in different place to suit. Never had it on a dino but pulls very well and would hope with modifications it should have a bit more than the original 170hp!
To accompany the car I produced a few brochures/ adverts based on the original ford RS advertising to show off the WRC170. These look great on display at shows and will come with the car as well as an original navigators bag and brochure from 2001 rally GB.
