The Ford Focus is dead, £50k dreamboats...

...and the cars you hate coming across on the road. All this and more on the Gassing Station

By Cam Tait / Tuesday, 2 December 2025 / Loading comments

I always get the sense that the moment we start talking about electric cars on The Gassing Station, especially crossovers and SUVs, the people listening begin to drift off. And given a lot of people tune in while driving, it’s a subject best avoided. But we’re opening today’s episode with a quick overview of the new Vauxhall Mokka GSE, not only because Sam’s written a review on it, but because it’s supposed to mark the return of the hot ‘Vaux. It’s no VXR, but it may still be worth considering given our first proper topic of the week.

In case you missed it, Ford has officially killed off the Focus. And while we’ve become somewhat numb to the firm culling beloved models like the Fiesta, axing the Focus just feels a bit… wrong. It’s been one of Ford’s best sellers for the best part of three decades, and has spawned some all-time great hot hatches under the ST and RS monikers. But its genius was that even the lowliest models were great to drive, which is partly thanks to Ford engineering guru, the late Richard Parry-Jones, whose signature 50-metre test ensured cars like the Focus felt a cut above the rest from the moment you set off. Losing the Focus and Fiesta means more attention will naturally go towards electrified models like the Capri and Mach-E, which does make the aforementioned Mokka GSE look a little more appetising.

On a lighter note, PHer Ninrum has come into “some completely unexpected and unearned money” and is looking to spend it on a car. They’ve already got a VW Golf R, R53 Mini Cooper S and an Audi A2, and now, armed with a budget of £50k, they’re looking to bag one of their dream cars. Sam’s gone surprisingly left-field for this one, opting for this 1996 Dodge Viper SRT-10. All 8.0-litres, ten cylinders and 400hp of it. This one’s a properly nice example, too, with one former keeper and just 24,192 miles on the clock, and at £38,495 there’s money left over for fuel. Lots and lots of fuel. I, on the other hand, have gone for a Series 3 Lotus Exige S Roadster, partly because Ninrum seems partial to a drop-top, but also for its superb spec: Ardent red, silver wheels and a cream leather interior. Let us know who did the better job down below, and don’t forget to submit your own suggestions in the topic here.

To round things off, we go through some of the many cars that instantly enrage you when you come across them on the road. This is all thanks to 8IKERDAVE’s ‘what is your nemesis car?’ topic, in which they confess their disdain for Hyundai i10 drivers. Baldchap, meanwhile, says they’ve never seen a Nissan Qashqai “driven properly”, and uktrailmonster has observed pick-up trucks “being driven on a mission to get ahead in traffic.” It’s a brilliant topic and one we can all contribute to, so feel free to bung your own experiences in there. Just give the pod a listen first, please!

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