How to modify a Ford Focus RS legally on GCM YouTube channel
It’s got a roaring exhaust, rear spoiler, with 345 brake horsepower – and did we mention it’s a police car?
And while you won’t see this Ford Focus RS catching criminals, it does have an important police message.
It’s been transformed into a completely unique police car with the help of YouTube channel GCM (George’s Car Media), and over the coming months it will feature in videos showing how to safely modify a vehicle legally.
The videos, which will include road safety advice, will be released through the GCM channel that has more than 765,000 followers on YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok – and attracts between 20 to 30 million views per month on average.
The car – chosen for the legendary status of the Focus RS among young drivers and modified car enthusiasts – will also be used to engage with young people at targeted events across Devon and Cornwall.
The Focus RS isn’t the first sports car to be used in such a way by Devon and Cornwall Police. Last year the police-liveried Lotus Evora turned heads all over the region, sparking countless road safety conversations with all manner of road users.
Sgt Owen Messenger, who has been featuring in videos on GCM for more than two years now, said: “The Lotus has been absolutely fantastic and has proved our concept that having a unique vehicle really works to engage with people.
“Over the past year I’ve had really insightful road safety conversations with thousands of people – both at live shows and online – purely because of the Lotus.
“It has an unmistakeable draw that just gets people talking and allows us to deliver our important messages to people who might not otherwise have wanted to speak to a police officer.”
Sgt Owen Messenger with the modified car in the GCM YouTube video
However, Owen explained that the Evora now has to be returned to Lotus, which gave him the idea of acquiring the Focus RS.
Sgt Messenger said: “We use the car as a ‘hook’ to encourage young people to watch the videos – we then drip feed the Fatal Five and other road safety messages into these videos.
“This is the perfect car for engaging young people and those with an interest in the modified car scene – the Focus RS is unrivalled in its reputation.
“As well as using it at events and on social media to promote road safety messages, we are also working with the GCM channel to create a series of videos showing how you can safely modify a vehicle such as this.
“Lots of people want to modify their car or van but doing it without the right knowledge can be both dangerous and illegal. We want to show people how they can make these changes safely and legally and who they need to notify if they make certain modifications.
“This project helps the police reach an audience we might not otherwise be able to engage with. We are reaching out to a generation of people using modern social media techniques and an influencer in GCM, which helps us forge better relationships with the public and specifically young people.”
Devon and Cornwall Police previously borrowed a Lotus GT410 Picture: Devon and Cornwall Police road crime unit/Twitter
The car cost £30,000, funded by Vision Zero South West, the road safety partnership in Devon and Cornwall, which stressed it is not an operational police vehicle.
Superintendent Adrian Leisk, strategic roads policing lead and chair of the Vision Zero South West enforcement sub-group, said: “Young drivers can be hard for police to engage with for a number of reasons, so having a vehicle like this that appeals to them is going to really help.
“This is all about road safety. At the moment too many people are being killed or seriously injured on our roads.
“Sadly, we know young people are over-represented in these collisions. Every young life lost or dramatically changed due to a collision is an absolute tragedy and this is just one of the many ways we are working hard to prevent such crashes.
“We have already been contacted by several groups who want us to bring the Focus to their school or event to speak to about road safety.”
