It has been nearly 4 years since I first saw the YouTube video on the Focus ST from Top Gear, and began to wonder why the vehicle was not being sold in the US. It has been about 3 years since I watched it again during my research leading up to my first new car purchase as I was coming out of college, and I officially put the ST on my list of potential cars upon hearing of its potential existence in the North American market in the years ahead. Over the next three years, as I continued to add and remove potential cars from the list, the ST remained close to the top. The idea of a car that could satisfy my need for fun and thrills, as well as be practical enough for my daily commute and hauling around my family and friends was enough to keep it there.

Needless to say…those three years seemed to last forever. It didn’t help that the ST was originally stated to be coming to the US in 2011, and it was then pushed back to a 2012 debut. Luckily, I came across FordSTNation, a forum that seemed to feed my hunger for information and provided me with just enough pictures, videos, and general information to supplement the random press articles and videos I found online. It was a true enthusiasts site, and a lot of great people contributed to various discussions that ranged from technical specifications to what color we were looking forward to purchasing. It is by no mistake that this group provided me with the link to an ad that a dealership had posted regarding an ST that they had just received and were looking to sell. Within half an hour, I had successfully received approval from my boss to take the rest of the day off to check it out. “Can the ST live up to the hype I have given it?” I asked myself during my hour long trip to the dealership.

During the test drive, it seemed as though the ST asked me, “so what do you expect?” and then followed it up with, “Okay, I’ll do you one better.” Even my father, the person who laughed hysterically at the idea of a FORD hatchback being sporty and fun to drive, took it for a spin. When his portion of the test drive was over, he calmed himself down, wiped his 15-minute-long smile off of his face, removed himself from the Recaro seats, shook my hand, and said, “Well done, Son. I guess you were right about this one.”

It has been 10 days and just under 2 hours since I left the dealership after the purchase of my Tuxedo Black ST2 (it has since been confirmed that I was the first ST owner in North America). I suggest you go give one a try, I’m sure you will be impressed as well!!!