Sunday eBay Wouldya: V8 Ford Focus & smart forfour BRABUS

Editor's note: this week we're spoiling you CT-lovers with a home and 'across-the-pond' edition of Sunday eBay Wouldya in case you're a loyal international fan still wanting to lay down some cash money on a spontaneous vehicle purchase.

Updated: 10 Oct 2024

USA Wouldya

The Ford Focus has been doing a reasonable approximation of a VW Golf since it first came out in 1998. The replacement for the long-lived Escort represented a huge step forward for Ford's family car. It had super-modern styling, a funky interior, and a chassis that was tuned by people that clearly cared about how the car drove. It had some rough edges and mechanical problems, but it was still a great start. And the SVT version was even better.

The SVT improved slightly on every area of the Focus hatchback. It had a tweaked, variable-valve timing version of the 2.0L 16v motor, hooked to the same Getrag six-speed box as the Mini Cooper S. It received rear discs, upgraded suspension, better seats, and all the other trappings of the sport compact crowd. Great car, the SVT Focus: Europe got it as the ST170, too.

This 2002 model year Focus SVT that's up for your consideration today is a slightly different story. Although finding a modified SVT isn't unusual - it was a tuner-oriented car after all - this one's a bit beyond the usual intake/header/exhaust/springs/wheels you might expect. For one thing...

Well, it can't really be narrowed down to "one thing" honestly. This Focus started out life as a four-cylinder front wheel drive economy car, and now a 32-valve V8 nicked from a Mustang Cobra sends power all the way to the rear wheels. It's bizarre but neat; imagine looking under the rear of your Focus hatchback and seeing this giant differential and solid rear axle.

There are other upgrades done to cope with the doubled power output and rear-wheel-drive conversion, too. The black Focus sports a big brake kit from Wilwood, with larger rotors at all four corners, and 4-piston calipers up front. There are adjustable coil-over shocks at all four corners as well, and a custom exhaust with Magnaflow boxes. With a car this modified, there's bound to be a hundred more little things that aren't mentioned in the add, but the seller does say that the car puts a healthy 270 horsepower and 292 lb-ft torque to the wheels: which is about right with the car's 320-horsepower output from the factory.

I'm still left with a few unanswered questions about this though. In the advert, he says he has more than $50k sunk into this car, which I can kind of believe - it's not cheap to do this kind of surgery. So why is the Buy-It-Now only 15 grand? And more importantly, if he went to all the work and expense of stuffing a V8 into a Focus, why isn't it supercharged?

Still, there's no point in arguing logistics when we're talking about a V8, RWD, Cobra-powered Focus. The question is: at a Buy-It-Now of $15,000, would this Focus/Cobra be worth it? Wouldya?

Auction Link: Here, but there's only about a day and a half left

UK Wouldya

This week we have a car that might just satisfy both your head and your heart. Ok your heart might have to wrestle your head into submission when it comes to insurance and tyre bills, but apart from that, this car could be a smart choice (cough) for speed freaks who don’t want something too Max Power.

What you need to know about this smart forfour is that while it may seem to be lacking in the trouser department with just a 1.5-litre engine under the bonnet, it’s been Viagra'd up by the power maniacs at Mercedes tuning house BRABUS. Thanks to the BRABUS boys this turbocharged smart pumps out 177bhp and can scrabble its way to 62mph in 6.9 seconds and tops out at nearly 140mph – more than enough to keep a similarly aged MINI Cooper S in the rear view mirror.

What helps to keep the forfour BRABUS ahead of the MINI (apart from its rampant engine) are plastic body panels which mean it's pretty damn light. As a result, the forfour BRABUS boasts a power to weight ratio that’s nearly identical to a Porsche Boxster 2.5. Nice.

Don’t think that BRABUS skimped on kit to keep the weight down though; this testosterone-packed supermini wears a body kit, twin exhaust pipes, a roof spoiler and some mahoosive BRABUS alloys. And on the inside the car is stuffed with a full black leather interior, front heated sports seats, a panoramic glass roof, multifunction steering wheel, air con and a CD player. It’s even capable of more than 40mpg and road tax is pretty reasonable too.

We found this two owner silver model on eBay for a measly £4,990. This smart has covered just 54,489 miles so should have plenty of life left and comes with a warranty and a HPI report which is all good. According to the advert the car is in immaculate condition inside and out and the pictures seem to back this up. The only question mark is service history which the ad fails to mention at all. So you’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do you punk?

Auction Link: Here