Richard Porter

He says, I'm currently en route to collect a new car.

As someone who already owns a classic Mini and a Porsche Boxster, I'm after something a little more practical to use through the winter.

So I'm on my way to fetch a Mark 1 Ford Focus Gear 1.6 petrol after you guys were talking about them on the podcast.

But as someone who lives at home with my parents, could you do me a favour and please explain to my dad, a fellow listener, why this is a brilliant idea and at £400 I simply had no option but to snap it up.

There's a slight possibility if this doesn't go down well, I may be living in my velour upholstered gear.

Any words of wisdom you can provide to be a help?

I love them.

I think also, I mean, they're kind of into modern classic territory pretty much.

pretty much now, aren't they?

But in the best possible way.

So that is new enough to, as you say, sort of still have parts availability, to still feel quite modern and to have modern safety features and all the rest of it.

So it'll have ABS and airbags and bloody blah.

But that will also not quite feel like any brand new car that you can buy today.

there's a sort of crispness to those that I think cars have lost, you know, focuses have lost, certainly, as they've got a little bit bigger and tiny bit softer in the quest to sort of feel more grown up.

Yeah.

That feels more like a hot hatchback in terms of the way that it responds.

And that 1.6 engine is really nice as well, from memory.

It's very sweet.

It's perky.

Lovely gear change.