What’s your winter beater like? Is it a rusted-out Outback, or maybe an old Ranger? Both are solid picks, but I posit that there’s a better winter car out there. Something that doesn’t just plod its way though snow, but can turn low-traction situations into genuine joy: A fully rally-prepped Ford Focus.
This 2002 Focus has been stripped out, built up, and converted into the best snow car you’re likely to see on this side of $10,000. It has Bilstien suspension, Sparco wheels, a full cage, Momo seats — everything you need to get to Wegmans and back on a snow day in record time. There’s even a roof scoop, so that nice cool air can keep you refreshed in your helmet.
Interestingly, there’s neither any mention of engine mods nor any shots of the engine bay. Whatever’s going on under the hood here is a mystery, but it’s a mystery that seems to run hot — look at the vents and scoop here, clearly the Focus needed some additional airflow in the engine bay. That, or the prior owner just raided AutoZone and thought it looked neat, but the latter seems unlikely on a car otherwise so meticulously assembled. This Focus is built for function, not form.
The Focus even has a NASA logbook, so it’s been used the way it was intended. The seller claims new brakes and plenty of remaining tread life on the tires, so the car is fully prepared to ferry you to and from your winter chores. You could make every grocery trip, commute to work, or kid karate practice drop-off into your own tail-happy, snow-slinging winter rally wonderland. In the end, isn’t that what we all want? To make every winter drive into our own personal Sno*drift Rally?