I have heard the mk1 Focus rs being likened to a “glorified escort RS Turbo” in the way it drives and handles and I’ve adopted that description when anybody asks me about my Focus rs which is a MK2, I say it’s a glorified rs Turbo lol

not that I have driven any of the RST variants as they were rs cars that eluded me back in the late 80’s early 90’s. I almost got my hands on a series one rst around 1992 but I wasn’t sure if I was going to get the finance on it and I was worried about leaving a £500 deposit on the car in case I didn’t which would have meant losing that deposit, ironically I would have got the finance but the car sold within a few days and I missed out, iirc it was up for 4.5k.

I do love a rst whatever the variant and your one looks lovely in the picture, the question you must ask yourself is how badly do you want the mk1 FRS, the problem with them now is nice low mileage ones are fetching good money 10k and beyond and like any of the rs cars we all love bits for them, wings quarters etc even badges are no longer available an eBay seller had a couple of genuine rear quarters a while ago at a £1000 or £1500 each, if I had a mk1 FRS I would have wanted to buy and store them just in case lol

if it was me I’d keep the Fezza but I’m a bit bias lol try and drive the FRS and see what you think, there was one for sale at a car dealership over near the army barracks in aldershot a couple of months ago as I drove past it whilst working, don’t know if it would still be there, good luck with whatever you decide to do