Americans of a certain age may remember the original Ford Fiesta, a popular European subcompact that was sold in the U.S. from 1978 to 1980. The Mk1 Fiesta was a fun-to-drive “supermini” with peppy performance and sharp handling — and not long after it left our shores, the bigger-engined American version helped to spawn one of Ford’s best hot hatches of the ’80s: the cheap and cheerful Fiesta XR2.
1978 Ford Fiesta (U.S.) / Barn Finds
The whole charm of the original Ford Fiesta, from an American perspective, was that it was really never intended for North America. It was Ford’s belated entry into what Europeans call the B-segment: cars smaller and cheaper than the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Escort, or Toyota Corolla, aimed at markets where even a 1.2- or 1.3-liter engine could be too expensive. Many of the Fiesta’s key European rivals, like the Fiat 127, Peugeot 104, and Volkswagen Polo, were never sold here. Had U.S. sales been a priority, the Fiesta would surely have been dumbed down for American consumption, getting bigger and softer, adding automatic transmission and more chrome, and muting the crisp road manners that made the Fiesta so much fun to drive. Ford considered that — Lee Iacocca wanted a bigger domestically built “Super Fiesta,” and even entered into negotiations with Honda to supply powertrains so that Ford wouldn’t have to set up a new engine plant — but Henry Ford II balked at the Honda idea, and the larger FWD Escort project (known internally as “Erika”) was deemed more adaptable to American tastes.
In addition to its 5-mph bumper, the U.S. Fiesta had door beams to meet U.S. side impact standards / Barn Finds
Still, we got the first-generation Fiesta for three model years, 1978 to 1980. In that time, it sold 263,398 units, often with lengthy waiting lists. It might have done even better, but U.S. sales were constrained by production and regulatory limitations. Ford’s European plants couldn’t spare more than about 80,000 units a year for North America without cutting into European sales or setting up a new assembly line. Meanwhile, under the federal Environmental Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), which established the U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards in late 1975, Ford couldn’t count more than about 75,000 imported Fiestas a year towards its domestic fleet averages for 1978 and 1979, and none at all after that. If Ford had wanted to sell more Fiestas in the States, or to use them to offset its thirstier, more profitable Town Cars and Continental Marks from 1980 on, they would have needed to set up U.S. production. They chose to develop the American-market Ford Escort/Mercury Lynx instead — more’s the pity.
Sole engine in the 1978–1980 U.S. Fiesta was a transverse version of the 1,598 cc Kent engine, with new non-crossflow heads, air injection, EGR, and a catalytic converter / Barn Finds
For a short-timer, the U.S. Fiesta was an elaborate exercise. It needed 5-mph bumpers and door beams to comply with U.S. safety standards, provision for dealer-installed air conditioning, and emissions controls capable of meeting both federal and California standards. The additional weight and lost power meant that the smaller 957 cc and 1,117 cc engines used in Europe weren’t going to cut it, so Ford reworked the bigger five-bearing 1,598 cc “Kent” engine from the RWD Escort and Cortina for transverse installation, with new cylinder heads and manifolds. (The smaller “Valencia” fours in the European Fiesta were related to the Kent engines, but they had different heads, a somewhat smaller block with a smaller bore size, and three main bearings rather than five.) The transaxle and clutch needed beefing up, and the extra torque made torque steer a problem with the transaxle’s unequal-lengthy half-shafts. Ford added an intermediate shaft with an additional universal joint so the driveshafts would be the same length, plus an extra powertrain mount and a lower numerical axle ratio.
Fiestas with the larger 1.3- and 1.6-liter five-main-bearing engines had an intermediate shaft to connect the transaxle to the right driveshaft, allowing the actual driveshafts to be the same length / Ford Motor Company
With air injection, EGR, and a two-way catalytic converter, the 1.6-liter engine mustered only 66 hp and 79 lb-ft of torque, but that wasn’t too bad for the time, especially considering that the Mk1 Fiesta was a little car. Even with its 5-mph bumpers, it was over 8 inches shorter than a Volkswagen Rabbit and a couple inches shorter than a Honda Civic, weighing about 1,800 lb. The Fiesta was surprisingly quick for an econobox — 0 to 60 mph in less than 12 seconds and a top speed of almost 100 mph, better than some V-8 sedans could do back then — and still very easy on gas. It was also nimble, with sharp, accurate steering and a firm but controlled ride, very different from the clumsy early Escorts we got just a few years later. After the Fiesta left the U.S., many Americans who’d driven one remembered it fondly.
The 1982–1983 Ford Fiesta XR2 had round rather than rectangular headlights, auxiliary driving lamps, plastic fender flares, and a rather crudely finished front spoiler; black bumpers had been standardized on all Fiestas for 1981 / Collecting Cars
For quite a while, the 1.6-liter Fiesta was a treat Europeans didn’t. Until late 1981, British and European buyers couldn’t simply walk into a Ford dealership and buy a new Fiesta with the big engine. Ford didn’t let the work they’d done on adapting the Kent engine go entirely to waste — around the same time the U.S. Fiesta appeared, European markets got a Fiesta 1300, with the 1,298 cc version of the five-main-bearing engine and the same equal-length driveshafts as the U.S. car — but the only way to get the 1.6-liter was through a pricey dealer-installed engine swap.
The European Mk1 Fiesta was only 140.4 inches long, 6.5 inches shorter than the U.S. car / Collecting Cars
Of course, smaller engines had been at least half the point of the Fiesta, and with fewer emissions controls, the Fiesta 1300 was about as quick as the 1.6-liter U.S. car. On the other hand, there are always people who aren’t content with a smaller engine when a larger one will fit, and if the Fiesta was respectably quick even with mildly tuned, smog-controlled U.S. engines, well then …
XR2 had black polyurethane rear spoiler and rear wiper/washer / Collecting Cars
Ford had made a tentative move in that direction with the 1978 Healey Fiesta, which had used a highly tuned version of the 1.6-liter engine (with no emissions controls) with about 105 hp, along with an uprated suspension and bigger wheels, but it was strictly a one-off. (There’s some disagreement about whether Ford ever seriously considered offering a production version; some sources claim so, but a later interview with Donald Healey suggested that the Healeys always understood it to be strictly a concept car.)
Only one Healey Fiesta was ever built, but it still survives in private hands / Classic Trader
Finally, sometime in 1980, Ford’s new Special Vehicle Engineering (SVE) department started development work on a sporty 1.6-liter version of the European Fiesta called XR2, which debuted at the Frankfurt IAA show in September 1981.
Like U.S. Fiestas, the XR2 had the transverse version of the 1,598 cc Kent engine, but with the older crossflow head and about 17 more horsepower / Collecting Cars
Like the Healey Fiesta, the XR2’s engine combined the bottom end of the now-discontinued North American 1.6-liter engine with the freer-breathing crossflow head from the outgoing RWD Escort 1600GT, along with new manifolds, electronic ignition, and a different Weber carburetor; all the U.S. emissions controls were again deleted. In this form, the engine made an unstressed 84 PS DIN (about 83 hp) and 91.5 lb-ft of torque. Like the U.S. Fiesta, the XR2 had a sturdier four-speed gearbox (now shared with the FWD Escort) with a 3.58 axle ratio, although it got more closely spaced internal ratios than the North American Fiesta gearbox.
Fiesta front suspension was by MacPherson struts, but there was no anti-roll bar — the lower control arms were located by leading links instead / Collecting Cars
The Mk1 Fiesta had a sold rear axle located by four trailing arms and a Panhard rod — S, Ghia, and XR2 cars had a rear anti-roll bar, visible here above and behind the muffler / Collecting Cars
While the XR2 borrowed the springs and rear anti-roll bar of the sporty Fiesta S model (the Mk1 Fiesta didn’t have or need a front bar), it had stiffer twin-tube shock absorbers, the front suspension was lowered, and the engine mounts were lowered by about 0.6 inches to bring down the center of gravity. Bigger ventilated disc brakes replaced the usual Fiesta solid front discs (the rear drums were retained), and bigger 185/60HR13 tires and wider 13-inch wheels replaced the 12-inchers on lesser Fiestas, requiring plastic fender flares to cover the increased tread width. Spoilers, round headlights, driving lamps, sport seats with “Shark Grey” upholstery, and exterior graphics rounded out the set — your basic hot hatch accoutrements. All this added weight, but since European cars did without the U.S. Fiesta’s 5-mph bumpers, crash protection enhancements, and smog-control equipment, curb weight was still only 1,865 lb, just 23 lb more than a 1978 U.S. Fiesta S.
XR2 interior was gray on gray on gray, enlivened slightly by red instrument panel surround and red pin striping on the upholstery / Collecting Cars
The XR2’s 140-mph speedometer was overkill, and many critics wished for more comprehensive instrumentation / Collecting Cars
With about the same weight as the defunct U.S. car and the same axle ratio, but 25 percent more power and 15 percent more torque, the Fiesta XR2 was significantly quicker: Ford claimed 0 to 60 mph in 9.3 seconds, which was about right, and a top speed of 105, which was a bit conservative (auto motor und sport managed 108 mph). Ford could have made it faster still — racing versions of the 1.6-liter Kent engine were capable of 150+ hp, and 100 hp would not have been a great strain for street use in Europe — but the XR2 had to be careful not to overshadow the more expensive Escort XR3. The XR2 also wasn’t as quick as the contemporary Volkswagen Golf GTI, although the VW cost around 10 percent more. (The Ford was faster than the U.S. Rabbit GTI.)
XR2 sport seats were supportive, but bulkier than the standard buckets / Collecting Cars
However, the more important point was that the XR2 was fun. Even a basic Fiesta handled pretty well, and the Fiesta XR2 was more agile still, with a lower center of gravity and a lot more grip as well as more power. There were debits, of course: The XR2 was very noisy; the ride, which had been firm to begin with, was now harsh; the aggressive tires didn’t like wet surfaces; and it was thirstier than you’d think when driven in the expected lunatic fashion (22 to 24 mpg on leaded premium). Also, while the XR2 wasn’t that expensive (£5,150 in the UK, DM 15,700 in West Germany), it wasn’t dirt cheap, standard equipment was ungenerous for the price, and fit and finish were nothing special.
Fiesta was cheaply made, but it offered better-than-average passenger space for its class / Collecting Cars
If you were more interested in civility, you could always get a Fiesta 1300 Ghia, which had a better ride, more sound insulation, and more features. The XR2 was for motoring hooligans, who embraced it immediately and enthusiastically. I don’t have a Fiesta sales or production breakout by model, but according to SVE chief Rod Mansfield, the Mk1 XR2 sold about 30,000 units a year, twice what Ford projected. It was popular enough with young drivers that for a while it became perilously expensive to insure, and second-hand models were likely to have had colorful and difficult early lives.
The Fiesta’s trunk wasn’t very big unless you folded the rear seats down / Collecting Cars
The XR2 arrived fairly late in the run of the original Fiesta, so the Mk1 version was really only available for two model years before the arrival of the updated Mk2 Fiesta in fall 1983. From May 1984, there was a Mk2 Fiesta XR2, now with the more powerful 1.6-liter CVH engine from the Escort XR3 (essentially the same OHC engine found in the U.S. Escort, minus most of the emissions controls). It had better aerodynamics and more top end than the original XR2, but by most accounts, it just wasn’t as satisfying: A softer suspension and lighter steering spoiled the handling without really improving the ride, and the engine was just as much of a miserable, thrashy groaner as its emissions-controlled cousin in the U.S. Escort GT. That we didn’t get that Fiesta XR2 doesn’t seem like much of a loss.
Side graphics seem very ’80s; the distinctive alloy wheels are 13×6-inch Wolfrace Sonic / Collecting Cars
Even the European Fiesta is dead now — production ended in 2023 — and the number of Americans who remember the original car is steadily diminishing. If you got the chance to drive the 1978–1980 U.S. Fiesta, suffice it to say that the XR2 was like that, only more so, and while it was never sold here, it probably wouldn’t have existed without the cars that were.
1982 Ford Fiesta XR2 / Collecting Cars
Related Reading
Vintage R&T Review: 1978 Ford Fiesta Ghia – Ford’s First Go At Selling The Fiesta In The US (by Paul N)
Curbside Classic: 1978 Ford Fiesta – Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (by Paul N)
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: 1980 Ford Fiesta 1.3 Ghia (by Paul N)
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: 1983 Ford Fiesta 1.1 (Mark1) – You Won’t Find One Here (by Paul N)
Party Downsize: The Ford Fiesta Mk1 and Mk2 (at Ate Up With Motor)
Excellent article! The early US Fiesta intrigues me as they were long gone by the time I was spotting cars out the window on my way to school. I never realized the production runway was so short due to lack of corporate commitment rather than a disinterested public.
Much better and faster than the american Pinto, and obviously safer.
A very nice car, another european gem that was seen in the US thanks to the oil crisis.
Excellent research and biography, Aaron. Outstanding supporting images, as well.
To start the 1980’s, Ford of Europe, and later Ford in the US, did a good job of better presenting their sportiest versions of a car model, with a bolder look that better represented the 1980’s. In the late ’70’s, I found the Fiesta, Courier pickup truck, and Fairmont/Zephyr/Futura, were each similarly plagued by a cheap, almost emasculated element to their appearance. Boring wheel choices, uninteresting sporty versions. Limited, or no, aggressiveness at all, in how they were presented. Very square, undersized, and basic appearing. Affected the 1980 Thunderbird and 1981 Granada, as well. The earlier ESS versions of the Granada and Pinto were embarrassing. As you would expect, bad disco-era attempts to emulate European design, with tape stripes and blackout paint. As a design-obsessed kid, I did not like the direction Ford appeared to be going with their styling. Exuding frugality, approaching sterile, while evoking limited emotion or excitement, to me. Even the ’79 Mustang had a basic generic, borderline cheap/fragileness to their styling. At least in the very popular, base and stripped versions. With the Mustang, it was the 1982 Boss Mustang, that finally really started to explore via marketing, much more masculinity in their styling. I recall so many ’79 and ’80 four cylinder Mustangs, coming across as mass-produced sh*tboxes. With their narrow whitewall tires, and cheap-looking woodgrain dashes. Driven by people who actually thought, these cars made them cool!
This XR2 appears so much more red-blooded and masculine than the late ’70’s versions, we saw in the US and Canada. Definitive econoboxes, they were. I would suggest this xr2’s appearance may likely have inspired the looks of other hot hatches, including the Omni GLH.
The interior is grey, but the mix of shades, textures, seat design, etc., is perhaps better than many, many cars since. I have more issue with the blandness of fully monochromatic interiors. Whatever, their colour.
The rally-inspired driving lights, flirt with a ‘boy racer’ look. But they do work here. When a car appears clapped-out, and these are bent, burnt, or missing, they are a serious detractor in looks. Some of the over-the-top homemaid exterior customizing on ’80’s hot hatches, looking quite distasteful. Love when a factory-look is maintained.
Rode in one of these in 1982, a coworker owned it. It sounded like riding in a can, loud and tinny. It did handle alright.