Ford Focus RS (Mk3)
Reference — shown, never scored
Why 7.6: Driver-adjustable rear torque vectoring and a manual-only gearbox — genuinely one of the last analog all-wheel-drive hot hatches, docked only for electric steering testers called precise but numb next to hydraulic rivals. Never sold new in the US, but the ones that got grey-imported get driven and tracked, not parked.
Market value
Median asking price, good condition · $40k (2016) → $42k (2026), trending up · illustrative data
The long version
In its home markets it lives like a fast Golf with worse manners — daily commutes, winter tires, the odd track evening, head-gasket forum threads worn like a club badge. The US population is import-only and small, but the people who bothered are exactly the type who drive them; nobody grey-imports a hot hatch to store it. Depreciation bottomed early, and the cars now trade on condition and honesty rather than odometer fear. It is what badge cars in this price band rarely are: used as designed.