For most of us, being diagnosed with
cancer would spell the end of the world. For Allan Lewis, it proved to be the
beginning of a new chapter in life, thanks in part to the gift of a Mk2 Focus
RS.
It transpires that Allan’s dad, Mick, had
cashed in his retirement fund while his son was in hospital, and had gone out
and bought him a 2010 Mk2 RS with Lux pack 1 & 2 and with just 10,000 miles
on the clock as a present to cheer him up. It worked a treat, although Allan remembers
that it was a while before he could get behind the wheel, which must have been
a bit frustrating to say the least.
MK2
Focus RS Interior
“Because of the chemo, I’d lost a lot of
the feeling in my feet, so I was under doctor’s orders not to drive,” he said.
“It took me three months of rehab to get well enough to drive it – it really
was the best motivation I could have had.”
“I don’t want to modify it though, I’ve
been through that all before with my previous cars,” Allan continued. “I’m
limited to what I can do, so I just concentrate on detailing it and getting it
looking as good as I can. People say I must be mad to spend so much time polishing
it, but having the RS tucked away in the garage gives me the opportunity to get
away from the world and concentrate on something positive. I put on some music
and just spend as long as I can detailing the paint work, trim, interior,
engine bay – any part of the car as long as I can get to it.”
Using Zaino products, amongst others, for
the paint, tyres, windows and alloys, and 303 Aerospace protectant for the
engine bay, the results of Allan’s hard work and attention to detail have not
gone unnoticed, either. When we met up with him and Mick earlier in the year at
the Performance Ford Day at Crail, he’d notched up an impressive tally of 13
trophies for various show ‘n shine competitions and had also claimed the
‘Spirit of Crail’ award for his efforts to boot. And while he admits that the
Focus spends half the year under wraps, Allan also tells us that it’s not
exclusively a garage queen and he does actually get around to driving as well,
when conditions allow of course.
“I take it out for a blast every now and
again when I’m feeling down, it just gives me a massive lift,” he said. “As I
said, I’m not planning to modify it, and I’ve actually had lots of comments
from shown shine judges that it’s nice to see a non-modified RS for once –
nearly all of them have had something done, so there doesn’t seem to be many
standard ones left!”
Allan
could have a point here. As and when the Mk2 RS reaches retro or classic
status, you could argue that keeping one stock could actually be a good
investment
Allan could have a point here. As and when
the Mk2 RS reaches retro or classic status, you could argue that keeping one stock
could actually be a good investment – just take a look at prices of unmolested
performance hatchbacks from the ’80s and you’ll see what we’re on about!
Given the seriousness of his condition, it
might seem a little strange that Allan can have such a positive outlook on
life, but then this is the reason why his story is such a remarkable one.
Whereas many in his situation would have understandably thrown in the towel,
his car has proved to be the perfect distraction from his illness and thanks to
the support of his family, especially his dad Mick, he’s not only seen his
daughter’s birth, but her first birthday as well. Not only that, but it’s also
allowed him the time to raise money for the Beatson unit that’s been treating
him, and while his initial target was $8,470, he’s on the verge of hitting $10,166
and now has $17k in his sights.
Focus
RS MK2 Induction Pipe
There are plenty of words we could use to
describe Allan, ‘brave’, ‘dedicated’ and ‘inspirational’ are just a few of
them, but to be honest, when you speak to him and realise how calm and
collected he is, none of them really do him justice. This might not be a
typical Performance Ford magazine feature, and this is certainly not a typical
PF feature car. But then that’s because its owner is far more impressive than a
mere car could ever be.
