Pity the bottom back-seat cushion is one-piece, when the rear backrests are split 60:40. It’s one of the few obvious signs of Ford penny pinching, and does compromise the car’s load-carrying versatility.As with the Focus hatch, the rear seat is outstandingly roomy, offering excellent head- and leg-room. In every area except shoulder-room, it is as spacious as the Mondeo in the next-class-up. Trim quality is also good, even if the Focus lacks the class of the Golf.The dashboard is a strange futuristic design, which won’t appeal to everyone. To cap off a terrific couple of months for Ford, the Focus has just picked up top marks in the official NCAP European safety tests.
But like any new star, there comes a time when the sparkle will start to flicker.

And that’s when the critics, who have lauded the new Focus like no other mass-made car I can remember, will be poised, knives ready to thrust.The first big opportunity for the knockers comes when a car’s model range starts to proliferate Yes, yes, the hatch may be ace. It’s been feted around Europe and also easily won the 1999 Car of the Year award. What was significant about its victory in the COTY was not just the margin of its win, which was big, but the widespread nature of its popularity. The judges from France liked it just as much as those from Finland; ditto the Greeks, Germans, Belgians, Britons, Swedes and Spaniards Often the COTY judges back their national favourites Not this year The Focus wiped the board.

The hatchback version of the Focus – the only model launched thus far – has won just about every magazine comparison test it’s been in. At these prices, they will certainly be an endangered species.. THE FORD Focus hit the car scene with the same sort of impact that Michael Owen hit the football pitch, and the accolades were just as fast in coming. I found a 1988 Jeep Grand Cherokee Orvis which had done a year’s motoring up for grabs at pounds 28,000.

Selling for more than pounds 33,000 new, I could feel the seller wilting under not too much pressure, bringing the price down to the earlier pounds 20,000s. Then there was the Frontera owner who gave it all away in the advertisement: he wanted to part-exchange his L-registration 2.3 TD model for a Vauxhall Corsa TD. Otherwise they wanted pounds 8,500.It is worth mentioning that there are increasing numbers of Japanese import models. These Mitsubishi Shoguns are badged Pajero and come with every conceivable extra for under pounds 10,000. The Japanese Import Centre (01883 7444439) is well worth a call.Range Rover anyone? Well there isn’t any good reason to pay much more than pounds 10,000. There seem to be a lot of the last of the K and L registration models being cleared by the gentry Maybe they know something we don’t Perhaps thirsty old Range Rovers are going to be banned. I took a trawl through the classified advertisements to see how long it would take to find some giveaway 4×4s.