Ford Focus named greatest car of last 25 years | Top 10 - Car News Sep 2013

10:32 Tuesday 28 Apr 2015

Readers of Auto Express magazine have voted to name the original Mk1 Ford Focus as the greatest car of the past twenty-five years.

The Focus beat off the likes of the Lancia Delta Integrale, the McLaren F1 and, perhaps most astonishingly, the Bugatti Veyron in a poll to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the motoring magazine.

While you could argue that the Focus is a strange choice (especially since, on balance, most of us would rather have a Bugatti Veyron on the drive than a Ford hatchback), when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

When the Focus was launched back in 1998 it was a revelation. After the fairly awful final incarnations of the Escort, the Focus was a breath of fresh air and helped to revitalise Ford's standings in the hatchback market. Not only did it look brilliant thanks to its futuristic new-edge styling, but its independent rear suspension made it by far the most entertaining car of its type to drive, putting to shame the likes of the Golf and the Astra in the process.

As a result, the Focus went on to become Britain's best-selling car, an accolade it held for a decade.

Today, thanks to its popularity, the Mk1 Focus has become one of the most common sights on British roads. But despite its ubiquity, not to mention the fact that it has been out of production for eight years, it still looks great and drives brilliantly.

Ford's product development guru at the time of the original Focus' launch, Richard Parry-Jones, once remarked that building a supercar is much easier than creating excellence for the millions. And that's exactly what Ford did with the Focus.

Scroll down to see the list of the top ten cars of the past twenty-five years, according to the readers of Auto Express magazine.

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