When a Ford dealer crushed my dream of importing a Ka, I settled on the two-door Escort Coupe I dumped within two years, on account of its epileptic speedometer, for a new Focus Sedan. The Focus’s relative agility on American roads makes an ironic reminder of the Focuses I saw labor through the sharp cobblestone tangles of Florence and Siena, where it was and no doubt remains a large vehicle.

Wandering a dealer’s lot last Saturday during an oil change, I learned the Focus is the current fleet’s smallest. Almost needless to add I was the only one wandering the lot.