Here is your chance to be a Gymkhana hero

Broad Arrow Auctions comes with this exciting proposal: your chance to buy a Ford Focus RS RX ‘Hoonigan’. As in the one Ken Block used for Gymkhana 9. Honey, where did I leave my 400,000 dollars?

If you don’t know about Ken Block’s Gymkhana series on YouTube, then you are a minority. Gymkhana 9, where this car is featured, has amassed over 54 million views since it was launched six years ago.

Stunts and tyre smoke

Ken Block added spectacle and tyre smoke to the traditional concept of gymkhana, or autotesting in the UK. Whereas gymkhana of old is about precision in a series of slow-speed exercises, Block moved the goalposts. Literally as well, and much of his series has been about pasting together the best bits in one epic film, as demonstrated by the big rubber marks left from the previous takes.

Rallycross car

The first Gymkhana films always featured Fords. The car Broad Arrow Auction will sell in its West Palm Beach sale on November 19^th is the 2016 Ford Focus RS RX ‘Hoonigan’. It is one of two cars built for the film. The car is a further development of the Ford Focus rallycross (hence RX) car built by M-Sport. This car actually served in the 2016 and 2017 world rallycross campaigns where Andreas Bakkerud quickly scored wins and Ken Block managed podium finishes with the Focus.

Over 600 hp

The Gymkhana car has a 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder with Garrett turbocharger boosting output level to over 600 hp. That is, with a 45-millimetre air restrictor in place. Unrestricted, the engine is said to deliver over 1000 hp… for a short time. Both the six-speed sequential gearbox and the rear diff are Sadev-made. The Focus is four-wheel drive and 0 to 60 mph is dispelled with in under two seconds.

For Gymkhana 9, Block’s stunt team worked from abandoned industrial locations in Buffalo, New York. Funny how, looking at it now, it’s much more the technology than the car that starts to give the Gymkhana films a dated look. Is that a GoPro4? Pffffrrrt…

400,000 – 600,000 dollar

Whereas the price may surprise you, Broad Arrow Auctions expects it to be a 400,000 to 600,000 dollar affair, don’t forget this is a very serious piece of kit. M-Sport would have given this car the same attention as its WRC rally cars, so there is a lot of technology and dedication here. Of course, having the car will only be the start. After that, you will need some closed-off premises – really, you do – and finally some talent will be required as well.

More on the auction here.