A '13 and a '15

sailor said:

MkI styling def. had a lot of love or hate reactions, something you seem to have missed is that the style was intended at the time to be used on most Ford models ("New Edge" styling) but ended up being fully realized only on the Focus and Mercury Cougar.

"Lens" shapes coming to points and arcs coming to a point are common to the style, and seen throughout along with some ellipses carried over from the prev. style as on the dash vents.

Mk 1.5 toned it down, particularly by removing it from the interior, and by the U.S. MkII it disappeared.

Change in styling personnel/direction ended up with that style NOT being used long & spreading to other models as planned. Unlike Cadillac's style from the same era they still use to make their cars stand out.

IMHO the U.S. MkII is the worst looking, and the dash is terrible with only the driver's cluster being a decent "look" vs. the acres of blank plastic used elsewhere. "Plain" might be more "adult", but any style carried off throughout beats a conglomeration of different items that meld into no "style" at all.

MkIII has now adopted a corporate "look" first seen in a better version on the Fusion, something not all like just like not all liked the MkI. Interior has been toned down, and in this case it does seem to come off better then the 'busy" look of the original. Agree on "more adult" there. Exterior was a style that got many "copies" of the trend at the nose originally while remaining unique to the Focus - some liked the more aggressive look over the current version that matches many other models.

Overall, the "adult" MkII was a styling failure that attracted few customers. The "plastic" look came off very cheap to many and sales nose dived. Current MkIII, even though "more adult", seems to avoid going TOO far and joining that boring & uninteresting category.

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sailor said:

MkI styling def. had a lot of love or hate reactions, something you seem to have missed is that the style was intended at the time to be used on most Ford models ("New Edge" styling) but ended up being fully realized only on the Focus and Mercury Cougar.

"Lens" shapes coming to points and arcs coming to a point are common to the style, and seen throughout along with some ellipses carried over from the prev. style as on the dash vents.

Mk 1.5 toned it down, particularly by removing it from the interior, and by the U.S. MkII it disappeared.

Change in styling personnel/direction ended up with that style NOT being used long & spreading to other models as planned. Unlike Cadillac's style from the same era they still use to make their cars stand out.

IMHO the U.S. MkII is the worst looking, and the dash is terrible with only the driver's cluster being a decent "look" vs. the acres of blank plastic used elsewhere. "Plain" might be more "adult", but any style carried off throughout beats a conglomeration of different items that meld into no "style" at all.

MkIII has now adopted a corporate "look" first seen in a better version on the Fusion, something not all like just like not all liked the MkI. Interior has been toned down, and in this case it does seem to come off better then the 'busy" look of the original. Agree on "more adult" there. Exterior was a style that got many "copies" of the trend at the nose originally while remaining unique to the Focus - some liked the more aggressive look over the current version that matches many other models.

Overall, the "adult" MkII was a styling failure that attracted few customers. The "plastic" look came off very cheap to many and sales nose dived. Current MkIII, even though "more adult", seems to avoid going TOO far and joining that boring & uninteresting category.

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metallicnotazx5 said:

European mk2 is still best looking imo

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tnygigles66 said:

The US mk2 felt like it was just thrown together whether it worked or not.
I remember one of my biggest issues (and I know this is going to sound nit picky and insignificant) was the fact the when you clicked the OD off on the auto part of the light was hidden on the instrument cluster on the dash. Which to me shows that Ford was OK with cutting this corner. The MK3 overall just feels way more refined and better built.



I have to agree. I love how they look and wish I could get my hands on an inexpensive one here.

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RonMaiden said:

Still like the older grill a little better but the 2015 headlamps are slick. Overall the 2015s still look like a Fusion mated with a Fiesta and created the new Focus. Lost a little bit of it's own personality.

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michaelhunt said:

I personally thought the mk1 was a beautiful car, my first focus was a 2000 spi LX with a blown motor I got back in 2006 for $600, then in 2013, I got a 2005 mk1.5 ZX5 and I hated the chrome grille, I put a body colored grille and then I actually liked the style of the car and I prefer the mk1.5 interior to the original, having a telescoping steering wheel and the hidden CD holder were very useful items to me. my dad has the us mk2 coupe, I really like the car and it has some good grunt, doesn't feel like a heavy pig like mk3s however the styling on the sedan mk2 just didn't flow right. mk3 I liked the fresh styling but no door lock buttons on the doors drive me nuts. then I arrived at mk3.5 got my damn door lock buttons and I think the styling looks great but its not as original as a mk3.

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michaelhunt said:

yeah, they feel light compared to a crown vic or f150, but having smaller cars that weight 2200-2500 pounds the focus feels much heavier in the corners

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saintsfins said:

The days of 2200 lb cars are probably long gone thanks to safety requirements, other than maybe specialty cars.

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