We live in the YouTube era. If it isn’t recorded, it didn’t happen. Now, Ford’s making it even easier for buyers of the exciting new Focus ST to accidentally provide prosecutors with compelling evidence for conviction.
The Focus ST will come with an “overboost” feature that briefly allows the engine to make 252 horsepower. (Edit: Or more torque, or more popcorn, or something like that.) This is extremely exciting because it’s about what the Dodge Neon SRT-4 really made back in 2004. With that kind of power, you’ll want to show off, so Ford is giving the first thousand Focus ST buyers a GoPro HERO2 Camera Pack. Put it on your car and head to your favorite street-racing spot the racetrack!
Those of you who already own SRT-4s, or mildly-tuned examples of the unfairly-derided Chevrolet Cobalt SS Turbo, and would like to document your inevitable victories over a car which has about the same amount of power while weighing more can find a GoPro Motorsports Kit on Amazon for just under three hundred bucks.
Was that Mid-Ohio?
It was indeed.
Hard to see with the camera angle, but was that the fault of the yellow Neon for cutting into the Miata, which was trapped against the shoulder of the turn?
Hard to say, really. As I recall, they were both pretty solid drivers. The Neon guy ended up on the Nationals podium that year.
Jack,
After writing that piece on the 1964 NY World’s Fair, I’ve started tracking down the 35mm slides and 8mm home movies that my dad shot when we were kids. A lot of that stuff gets lost.
George Mason, who ran Nash and engineered the merger with Hudson to create American Motors, was a photography enthusiast and had a 3D camera, probably a Stereo Realist, which were popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Nash Healey sports car came about because Donald Healey was also a photography buff and in 1949 on the Queen Elizabeth coming to the US to try and buy Cadillac V8s, he noticed a tall fat man with a stereo camera, approached him and found out they were both in the car biz. Mason told Healey he was interested in his project and to contact him if the deal with Cadillac didn’t work out. Which is what happened. I’ve spoken with Mason’s grandson and none of the photos that his father took still exist as far as he knows.
The upside of the YouTube generation is that their home movies will be preserved, for better or worse. I now keep archival copies of all my raw photos and video. Because of the proliferation of digital cameras and the ability to share user produced content online, our times and our lives are better documented, at least visually, than ever before.
She was “Princess Elizabeth” back in 1949 …
Something tells me Mr Baruth is not a fan of the ST.
Yes, the Dodge Neon had more power. But it was also a rolling Fisher Price toy outside of the engine.
I think the Focus is a great car and the ST will be greater still. However, surely the Mopar guys feel like Muddy Waters watching people go crazy over the Rolling Stones at this point.
Sounds very familiar to how some Miata guys feel about the BRZ. Low weight, low power with a preferenc for handling? Been there done that and with a convertible top!
you give the SRT-4 too much credit, Jack. Sure it made power with a formula that is copied today (FWD, Turbo) a few years ago, but I’ve driven three examples of the SRT-4 and every one of them was a miserable piece of shit, despite one of them being quite fast. The engine noise is among the worst I’ve ever heard, and only gets more awful with an aftermarket “upgrade.” The interior is embarrassingly bad, the panel gaps were huge, and nothing says douche like a non-racing Neon with a massive rear wing.
Let’s see….1,000 Focus wipeout videos, edited down to the good stuff, so figure 60 seconds apiece….
16.6 new hours of YouTube viewing on the way.
I got an HD Hero 2 motorsports for christmas last year. They’re great just for the video quality and the wide variety of mounting options. I have it mounted on the center console of my S2k for autocross.
I’m not really wild about the suction cup on the outside of the car though, I’m always worried It’s going to fly off. I use it on my surfboard too.
I just keep wondering if/how the angry guppy Focus ST is going to be any better/faster than the happy shark Mazdaspeed3. I know nobody has driven it yet, but any opinions?
Will the Focus ST exhibit the same unexplained attraction towards trees and telephone poles rarely seen in the automotive world? I think the Dodge Neon SRT-4 was the last car to with that rarely experienced cosmic force.
Obviously, the real reason Ford is giving away cameras to Focus ST owners is because they are hoping that idiots film themselves abusing their STs and post it on the internet. Then, when said idiot shows up at the dealership with a blown engine/tranny demanding that Ford fix it for free, Ford has video proof of that person voiding their warranty.
Well played Ford.
What happened to One Ford? Aren’t we supposed to get all the cool cars just like Europe? Apparently not because this car isn’t even close to the old Focus RS, and I doubt they’ll bring that over due to cost issues. Who wants to bet Europe will get a new RS though? I want RevoKnuckle and 300+HP!