ZXTREY
Owner: Matthew Blair
By: Matthew Blair
I quickly became a "car guy" growing up in the eighties and nineties when I got my driver's permit and license. While all the other car kids were swooning over Mustangs, Trans Am's, Camaro's, and Honda's, I fell hard for Buick's. Specifically, the turbo Buick platform. Those glorious turbo charged Grand Nationals and T-types really captured my heart at that time and while everyone else was going with the rest of the 8 and 4 cylinder crowd, I swam against the tide and jumped headlong into the turbo 6 cylinder mid 80's Buick community.
My first turbo regal, a 1984 T-Type with an 87 drivetrain, was stolen (never to be returned) and the second was a rough specimen that I had to eventually sell.
When I had to sell that second one, my love for cars as a whole just simply died within me. The following years and even decades were filled with nothing but machines for me to get around in. Somewhere deep down I was still a car guy, but the passion was gone.
Many years later, my wife and needed to rent a fuel-efficient car for a long road trip to Massachusetts. We wound up renting a MK1 Focus and during the trip I simply just fell in love with not only the platform, but cars in general, all over again. I just loved how small and nimble it was, and the hatchback form factor really piqued my interest.
I mean, who doesn't love a rally car?
Several more years passed and I needed to purchase a daily driver that was good on gas, was reliable, and could handle driving 100 miles a day round trip for work. Thinking back to that road trip, I knew I just had to find a Focus.
With my muscle car "go fast in a straight line" years now firmly behind me, I set out to find a Focus hatchback. After weeks of searching, I found one near me for sale with just 147k miles on the clock. The owner had purchased it as a “get around” car as his Subaru was in the shop for months getting work done. Buying a cheap car to get around in was more economical than renting a car for him. I just knew I had to have this car as soon as I test drove it. He said he was getting ready to scrap it since he wasn't getting any interest, and his car was just about ready to be picked up.
Trey was a little rough around the edges during that test drive. He needed a few motor mounts, a new power steering pump O-ring as the pump was groaning loudly when turning, and a few other things. I naturally leveraged all of that to my negotiation on price. We came to an agreement of $1300 and he was mine.
The first few years I just preserved what I had as He was still in great shape considering the mileage he had. After diving into the Focus community online, I formed a vision on what I would like Trey to become, which quite honestly, is as he sits today.
Being someone who loved exploring salvage yards and who lived near several of them at the time, I spent countless weekends scouring the yards and slowly gathering every single piece to build that perfect Focus vision that I had in my head. It took years!
As for his name, Trey, during my turbo Buick days, I became friends with a man named Trey Crease. Trey's business was buying old, dilapidated turbo Regals and selling the parts at car shows and over the phone (those were pre-internet days). Trey and I became good friends when I was thecartoonist for a mutual friend's Buick newsletter, and I would often spend time at Trey's place helping him tear down cars. He and I lost touch with one another over the following years and at the time I had purchased the Focus, I learned that Trey had suddenly passed away. I was trying to come up with a name for the car during that time. One day while looking at the ZX3 badge on the hatch, it just hit me. It's a ZX "3".
Trey....3.
It was just a perfect fit and now, I can't see Trey being named anything else. My old friend is always with me and every time I look at that license plate, I think of my old friend and the time we had together what seems now to be a lifetime ago.
Now in 2024 and with almost 330k miles on the odometer, I'm pretty much done with Trey. As he sits now is pretty much how I envisioned him to be all those years ago. He's been a great car to own and drive and with that kind of mileage, he doesn't owe me a thing. He's never left me stranded and I have been able to perform most of the needed repairs over these years on my own. I have had a lot of fun building him up and modifying him and he has re-instilled my long-lost enjoyment and love of cars.
As for future plans, I really don’t have any. Maybe someday I’d like to install a set of coil overs to get another 1/2 or 3/4 of an inch lower. Even with the stock SVT dampers and springs, it's ever so slightly a little too high still. Also, if I ever get the time and energy, I’d like to add sound deadening throughout the interior. Maybe some Morimoto lighting. But that's about it.
I'm very happy with the way the car as it sits right now. Now it's just a matter of preventative maintenance and enjoying the driving experience whenever I possibly can. There are lots of windy and twisty roads around here for some spirited driving and taking the long road home.
But, with all that being said, if someone would ever offer me an 87 GNX in trade for the old boy, well, I’m not so sure I’d be able to resist that one.
Moditications
Factory and Dealer Options
Sony 6 Disc Audiophile Sound System with Subwoofer
ABS
Grey Leather Interior
Manual Gearbox
Traction Control
Heated Seats
Heated Mirrors
Sunroof
Dealer Installed Remote Start
Exterior
SAP Front and Rear Bumpers with Matt Rowe Bumper Brackets Matched and Color Matched Diffuser
Euro Tail Lights
SVT EAP 15 Spoke Wheels
SAP Rear Color Matched Spoiler
SVT Side Skirts
SVT Door Handles
SVT Side Mirrors
SVT Door Trim
Kona Roof Rack With Color Matched Caps
Inno Wind Fairing
2013 Fiesta Rear Wiper
LED Brake and Turn Signal Bulbs
Eagle Eyes Black Bezel Headlights
Bluetooth External TPMS Sensors
Underhood
Mazda 6 Engine Cover
SVT Coolant Tank Cover
Massive 76A Poly Lower Transmission Mount
Dorman Removable Air Filter Box
Interior
ST Silver Instrument Cluster Bezel
Steeda Short Throw Shifter
Steeda Shift Knob
Steeda Sill Plates
Steeda HVAC Knobs
Dash Mounted Oil Pressure Gauge
ST Emergency Brake Handle
Sparco RS Emergency Brake Handle Cover
Red Line Performance Grey Leather Shift and Brake Boots with Red Stitching
Optional Black and Grey Leather Steering Wheel with Custom Red Stitching
SVT Pedals
Stainless Steel Heel Kick Plate
SVT Cargo Net
Ford Cougar Dead Pedal
Color Matched Interior Vent Bezels, Door Handles, and Hatch Release Button
Auxiliary Input and Bluetooth Installed Into Factory Head Unit
Kurtz Kustomz Chrome Shifter Trim Ring
Ultragauge OBD Monitor
Weathertec Floor Mats
Custom 4 Inch Hatch False Floor for Storage
Hatch Area Power Port
Exhaust
FSWERKS Stealth Exhaust
FSWERKS Flex Pipe\
Suspension
SVT Springs And Dampers With Massive Omni Kit
Strut Bar
Rear Stabilizer Bar
SVT Rear Sway Bar with Poly Bushings