I will admit that the biggest reason for my initial impression of this car had a lot to do with the e-mail that a friend had sent just moments before the car arrived at the office. In it was a link to a web site where a 1974 Pinto with an honest 4,195 miles since new was for sale. When my Dad died, I “inherited” his 1974 Pinto, a two-door with a 2.0-liter and an automatic. It was on this car that I learned just what you could do with Bondo, and what a nice set of leftover alloy wheels from a brother’s Mercury Capri V6 (the European one, a car that I loved), radial tires and a blacked out grille center would do for the resale value. I can’t say I “loved” that car, but I did appreciate its direct steering, decent handling, good (for the time) fuel economy, and – despite the huge “safety” bumpers – good looks.

So why does the 2008 Focus Coupe stir these memories? I can’t put my finger on any one item, however, the low, flat seats, thin steering wheel, and view through the windshield reminded me of the time spent behind the wheel of Dad’s Pinto. It was amplified by the automatic’s shift gate, and the volume of the 2.0-liter inline four under the hood. Granted, that engine has technology we only could have dreamed of back in the 1970s, but it is somewhat louder in this application than it is in, say a Mazda3. And that comparison is like-to-like as there was one in the fleet at the same time, which made back-to-back comparisons easy. Also, the Pinto would have been at the bleeding edge of technology if it had an electronically controlled four-speed technology found under the hood of the Focus. Yet this transmission is by no means as advanced in today’s market where you can choose from vehicles with five or six speeds – or no speeds at all, if you order a CVT.

Perhaps some of that stems from the fact that the Focus, despite it’s new look, is the car that has been with us since its introduction in 1999 as a 2000 model. Facelifted in 2005, this is the first major change for the car in its l-o-n-g life, especially when you consider the platform is derived from 1993’s Contour/Mystique/Mondeo. Or it may be that the large areas of silver plastic on the instrument panel remind me of the steel construction on the Pinto’s. Thankfully, the Focus’s new dash is well laid out and handsome, though it does have some interesting quirks. First among these are the small temperature and fuel gauges at the top of the cluster. Not that much larger than a quarter, they look old despite their design being new, and are at odds with the larger speedometer and tachometer. Then there is the hood over the centrally located message center. Covered in a softer plastic than the rest of the dash top (Why?), it has a grain so different it makes me wonder if they had some material in inventory they needed to get rid of, and put it here. Plus,the Sync unit is buried at the bottom of the center stack, though its ability to recognize and execute voice commands makes its positioning less critical.

Compared to the rest of the car, the instrument panel is the most apealing part of the new, er, redesigned Focus. Despite its “angry insect” front end, the Focus Coupe has a somewhat feminine shape, and carries 16-in. alloy wheels that look lost in the tall, slab body side. It also has a character line that ends in the most unfortunate fake fender vents seen this side of a 5^th grade art class. Also, that character line starts at what has to be the most unassuming pair of taillights in recent memory, and is unaided by what passes for a rear spoiler. What lies in-between is a body that lacks the curvature the previous version – who would have known how curvaceous that car was were it not for the 2008 version? – possessed.

Where the Focus shines, however, is in fuel economy. Driving it with no special regard for economy returned a solid 32 mpg on the highway, and nearly 27 in the city. Those two numbers alone may well explain the sales strength of the 2008 Focus, which saw its sales rise to nearly 24,000 units in April. As gas prices jump, cars like the Focus become much more attractive, even if they aren’t when compared to the cars they replace. And an as-driven price of $20,150, which included the Audiophile sound system ($645), Driver’s Group Package ($415), Deluxe Package ($395), automatic transmission ($815), Sync ($395), heated seats ($115), black leather bucket seats with contrasting white stitching ($695), ambient interior lighting ($295), and ABS with traction control ($385), is pretty easy on the pocketbook as well. Subtract any incentives from this number, and you have an extremely affordable small car with excellent gas mileage, decent interior space, and electronic capabilities you don’t expect for the price. Even so, it still reminds me of my old Pinto.