If you’ve wanted a Ford Focus ST then you’re likely resigned to driving a hatch. Today’s candidate is, amazingly enough, a saloon. It’s a custom job and carries a rebuilt title. Let’s figure out what that might be all about.

Much debate was had over last Friday’s , most of it centered on whether or not the extensive wood trim on the interior was original. I averred that it was not, but that opinion was countered in the comments. We will perhaps never know the truth.

Less contentious was that Subaru’s price. At $8,997 it was seen as wildly overpriced by 82 percent of you, who, wood or no, gave the car an overwhelming Crack Pipe loss.

Today is Memorial Day here in the U.S., a day in which we honor the sacrifices of the men and women who have served in our country’s armed services. We traditionally do so by having BBQs, buying mattresses, and not getting our mail delivered. I go to the added length of placing the Stars and Stripes outside my home.

I’m also acknowledging Memorial Day in a tangential way by featuring a car that we will soon be memorializing as it won’t exist any more. I’m speaking of course about an American-market sedan from the Ford Motor Company. And, what better way to celebrate that than with a Ford Sedan that never was in the first place? Yes, the Focus is going the way of all things corporeal here in the U.S., but this may be a fitting swan song.

Volkswagen has long been inclusive in the offering of hot editions of their small models. As such, the hot hatch GTI has long shared dealership floor space with the equally pumped up version of its booted sibling, the Jetta GLI. At one time Ford was all about sharing the hot shoe love amongst both hatch and three-box models, hell even wagons. Of late however, at least here in the States, they have been more parsimonious when it comes to offering up the ponies.

The GTI equivalent of the current Focus range has been the ST, the even hotter RS prepped for battle against the Golf R and Audi RS3. Neither fast Focus model was ever offered from the factory in the sedan bodystyle. That’s a sad state of affairs for those who like their performance along with a good bit of booty.

This custom job seeks to rectify that oversight and apparently overcome the fact that it’s tainted by a rebuilt, or ‘salvage’ title. According to the ad, the car started out life as a milquetoastian SE model. Something—the ad says not an accident—caused it to get written off. I’m going to guess that the title issue may stem from the car having been a theft recovery. That would also help explain the car’s present, pumped up state which the seller calls an ‘RST.’

The R in that model appendage is for the RS, which has apparently donated its nose to the car. Other than that, there doesn’t seem to be any RS parts adopted here.

There’s a shit-ton of ST stuff however, seemingly starting with the drivetrain. That’s a 2-litre turbo EcoBoost four and six-speed manual. The combo is good in the real ST for 252 horsepower and hours of row-yer-own fun on the road. The experience here should be similar.

Other ST bits include a set of serious Recaro buckets in front, 18-inch ST wheels outside, and a 180 mile per hour speedo in the dash. A trio of additional gauges atop the dash and fattened steering wheel round out the visual clues.

The paint is Blue Candy and that seemingly extends to the RS nose. That nose is missing its Ford emblem above the grille. Out back, the car is still branded as an SE so overall badging might need an update. Also missing is the driver’s side rocker which is an odd thing to be missing. Other than that, the car seems to be complete. It’s also pretty dirty both inside and out, which is always a bad way to present a car for sale.

On the plus side, it has all the fancy pants options you might want and comes with what is said to be 8,000 miles on the clock. I’m not to sure what exactly that means since it’s pretty likely this ’16 has seen more road than that count. Perhaps it’s 8K since the ST-ization?

The asking price for this one-of-a-kind Focus is $12,900 and, should your insurer turn a blind eye to the whole rebuilt title state of affairs, it’s now time for you to vote on whether that’s a deal or not.

What do you say, is this custom ST a ST-eal at that asking? Or, did you stop reading at the title?

You decide!

Lexington, TN , or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to Frank Mattingly for the hookup!

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