Here’s a sight I’ve missed on our streets for a few years now. My last gen1 Fiesta sighting was in 2016, when I shot one on the go. I suspect the guy may still have it, but doesn’t drive it much. Or maybe…
Roshake found this nice example on the streets of Budapest; it’s a 1.3, a version that never made it to the US, where only the 1.6 was available. There were also a 1.0 and 1.1 liter versions; these were the more compact “Valencia” engines, with a shortened block and other changes. The 1.3 and 1.6 were the “Crossflow” versions of the Kent engine.
It’s very compact for modern standards; only 140″ (3.565 m) long. Makes for a perfect city car.
Obviously the Fiesta’s trajectories in Europe and the US were quite different. It became the first in a long line of successful “B” class cars bearing that name from Ford, whereas in the US it was sold only for three years (1978-1980) before being replaced by the NA-version Ford Escort. Given the 1981 Escort’s feeble performance and clumsy handling, that was a bitter pill to swallow, since the Fiesta excelled on both accounts.
It was obviously just a stop-gap before the Escort was ready, but it quickly developed a rep for being one very fun to drive little car. I had some seat time, and can confirm that fully.
Nice to see one still in regular service.
My full CC on the Fiesta is here
Looks to be in V.G.C. .
-Nate
Still such a clean, really attractive design.
Perfectly placed front axle with very little overhang.
That is what I always thought whenever I saw one. Perfect lines and stance. Pretty even.
A friend had one and while I am not a Ford fan, have to say I liked these first gen Fiesta.
I miss mine though I suspect if I drove it now, it would be a good reminder of how much cars have improved in the last 40+ years. To be honest, the ‘82 Civic that replaced it was a better car even then. Still, mine did everything for me: a full season-plus of wheel-to-wheel SCCA Showroom Stock racing, daily commuting, at least one long (for me then) road trip to Oregon, many weekend trips to the Sierras for skiing (it was awful in the snow) or camping, often with 3 or 4 guys plus gear inside. Plus one memorable firewood gathering excursion way off-pavement in the National Forest and at least two household moves. As I recall these sold really well the first year or so here, despite not having an automatic option; I suspect the Pinto’s aging mediocrity by 1978 had created a vacuum for domestic brand sub-compact buyers who didn’t want a Gremlin or Chevette, or upsize to an Omnirizon. Then poof, another Ford captive import orphan. PS: I really liked the horn button on the column stalk.
^^^^This is why I always hoped to have driven one (if only just some spirited street driving) just to see what they were like compared to my beloved and trusty 1980 Pinto. I understand there’s still a community of, uh, “performance enthusiasts” enhancing power and handling of Fiesta survivors in the U.S.
I’ve always suspected that the Fiesta was a break-even or money-losing proposition for Ford in the US. Due to currency fluctuations, most European captive imports in the US were gone by ’78 (Capri & German Opel), and Volkswagen was building Rabbits in the US because it was too expensive to import the German-made ones.
But Ford and their US dealers needed *something* to sell to compete with Chevette, Omni, and the Japanese manufacturers and as dman pointed out, the Pinto was long in the tooth. But I don’t think Ford made much/any money on the US Festiva sales.
Fiestas were/are built in Spain, which saved money compared to Germany.
I remember driving one (an “S” model) in around 1988 or so before buying an equally aged Audi 4000 instead. The Fiesta was a hugely fun drive around the streets near Pasadena where it was. I think I passed as it had too obviously provided way too much fun for the selling owner and in the end I decided it wouldn’t be as good on the 3hr freeway trek back to college. Still, a very eager little car that has pretty much completely disappeared.
Takes me back to learning to drive, in 1.1 litre L spec. Sharp ride, very sharp clutch but many good points.
And still great looking.
Yeah, that clutch was unforgiving, especially for learners. Would be pretty tiresome in the slow stop-go traffic around here.
I remember the one I drove being very nimble – these were real lightweight cars and great fun to throw around on country lanes.
Right, the on-/off-switch clutch! We had a 1979 Fiesta 1300S, 66 DIN-hp, I remember that. From a VW Golf Mk1 1.6D (my driving school car) to the Fiesta was quite a starting-all-over-again experience. They both had a 4-speed manual, but that’s about the only thing the cars had in common.
The Fiesta also had a terrible automatic choke. And even with a fully warmed up engine, you had to be utterly concentrated to drive that Fiesta flawlessly, unlike the little Japanese runabouts back then (and the Golf diesel, for that matter).
It looked good and modern, it had fine road manners and there was nothing wrong with the build quality. But I didn’t like it.
Ours looked exactly the same, gold metallic and all.
My first car. Ford made them in an amazing variety of colors. Mine was painted gold with a black side stripe.
It was the same engine, but the trim was an 1.3 S. It was a great car but It needed a 5th gear. Great memories.
My mom had a ’78 I think, auto. I drove it a few times and found it to have a lot of power for such an econobox and it handled very well. It was fun to drive. But rust took its toll too quickly in Midwest winters. My mom liked that she sat up relatively high, as high or higher than the ’73 Super Beetle the Fiesta replaced.
If this was in the US, an automatic transmission was never offered here. I bought my ‘78 in 1979 from Budget Rent-a-car. Yes, you could rent a standard trans car in those days. Though not many.
A 1980 US Fiesta was my first new car. I could have made a far better choice for similar money. An uncle had a 1978 model that was doing ok service as a long-range commuter and I had a ’67 Cotina GT. Road & Track actually reviewed it and called it “fast, fun and functional”. 12 inch wheels and all. There was some sort of clearance going on in early 1981, with a long row of them at the local Ford dealer. I believe I paid about $6k. Two years prior they had sold for about $4.4k.
The total US warranty on the car was 12 mo./12k miles. It had a very tall OD 4th gear. I was doing a heavy commute and had also used it for a long-distance driving vacation. At about 25 k miles it was fouling out a cylinder and using oil. The Ford dealership pulled off the cylinder head and showed me that an .008 feeler gauge easily slid aside the piston on the bad cylinder. They made vague remarks about block casting problems on the 1980 model Cologne Kents. With no warranty at two years use and many car payments to go, I agreed to the install of an official Ford remanufactured engine. Crazy expense on a car of this value. All was again ok, save a failed radiator. About 8k miles later, it again began fouling the same cylinder. Saving a lengthy tale, I determined that the Ford dealer had not installed a different engine, just doctored the problem cylinder on my original engine. Perhaps a knurled piston or similar? They pocketed the cost of the nonexistent replacement engine. I should have known something was amiss with their weird generic warranty card without serial numbers. It really should have been legal action, but I settled for an overly generous trade allowance on a leftover 1982 Escort GT. The Fiesta was no Festiva.
I owned a 1980 Fiesta and a 1976 Pinto, with a 1977 Chevy Nova between them. The difference between the Pinto and Fiesta was staggering…especially considering the small gap in manufacturing dates. The Pinto felt much heavier than the Fiesta, like it was made out of cast iron to the Fiesta’s lightweight feeling of aluminum. For starters, the Pinto’s doors made a quite solid THUNK when you closed them. The Fiesta? Like closing the door of a refrigerator or oven, just a precise sort of squish. The unassisted steering of the Pinto was a real workout for the upper body while the Fiesta felt like it had power steering it was so flickable around curves and corners.
In 55 thousand miles of driving in 3 years the only ” major ” repair was the water pump. The only ” flaw ” in the design? These cars REALLY needed a 5th gear.
I agree, these always have been, and always will be very cleanly styled, classy little cars. Back- forward to 1980, Mom and dad had been divorced about a year. We had a medium chestnut metallic 1978 Fairmont wagon with the chamois velour interior upgrade. Car ran like hell. Mom took it to ford, turns out Dad removed the CC, among other things. They offered her a brand new 80 Fiesta S for trade. She did the trade. It was white, and had nicely bolstered red seats. We did miss the hacked Fairmont’s A/C when it was hot though. My mom is close to 80 now, she still talks about her love of that Fiesta. Her car that she got by herself after the divorce thing. It was also her self reward for just then graduating nursing school. She truly loved that little car! You go Mom!
My sister test drove one of these in the early ‘80’s when she finished college and was looking for her first car. They looked like a fun little car to drive, but she ended up going with a ‘76 Honda Civic instead. A fun car in it’s own right, but I wouldn’t have minded taking one of these for a spin – definitely better than an Escort or Pinto (which she also test drove).