LUCKY NUMBER SIX

A lifelong Ford fan, Simon Tudor always had a soft spot for the Mk6 ST and he now owns one of the best examples you’ll find...

-  Davy Lewis

When Ford launched the Mk6 Fiesta ST back in 2004 it caused a bit of a sensation. After a succession of luke-warm hot hatches, Blue Oval fans were hungry for a proper, old-school fast Ford – and the new ST certainly had the credentials.

Powered by a 2.0-litre Duratec lump, the new small Ford offered lively performance, backed up with a well-sorted chassis and good looks. Some may have bemoaned the fact that it didn’t have a turbo, but for most, it offered a lot of potential.

Over the years we’ve seen a huge number of tuned examples, from mildly upgraded cars with wheels and suspension, through to full-on track monsters that take no prisoners, but there’s something about a really nicely done example that still hits the spot.

And Simon Tudor’s car has to be one of the finest you’ll come across.

“I’ve always been into Fords. My old man had RS Turbos and Cossies when I was growing up,” he says. So it came as no surprise that his first car was a Mk4 Escort LX, followed by a succession of further Fords, including a Fiesta RST and an Orion with RS Turbo power that was featured in this very magazine around nine years ago. But there was one model he’d always had a real soft spot for – the Mk6 ST.

“I’ve always loved Mk6 STs and have had four or five of them. My best mate has one, so I’ve always been around them and think they drive great. I also owned an Arctic Blue model that had been turbocharged, but it had so many problems that I ended up getting rid of it,” he recalls.