CC On The Go Outtake: The Last Daily-Driver Fiesta Mk1 In Town

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I’ve been seeing this green Fiesta around town quite a bit the past few months, but never where I can shoot it. But coming home from Springfield yesterday I spotted it ahead, and hoped I could catch it, given that the Fiesta was a sprightly little thing in its time. Especially this one, which gets used for autocross.

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This is the companion car to the red one I shot and wrote up in a full CC here. That was several years ago, and the owner told me he had a green Fiesta S that he used for autocrossing. I haven’t seen the red one in a long time, so it looks like the green one has now taken on the daily driving duties.

I’ve always had a soft spot for these, as I got to spend some time behind the wheel of one when my sister in law bought one in LA before she knew how to drive a stick shift. So I had to bring it home for her, from Pasadena, and teach her. It was bright yellow, like so many of them. And an utter ball to drive. The Fiesta was the stand-out in the US at the time, for the most fun-for-the-bucks award.

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Although this Fiesta sports a black stripe and a big “S”, that did not mean anything different under the hood. Unlike European Fiesta Mk1s, which came with 900cc, 1.1 and and 1.3 L engines, all US-bound Fiestas came with a 1.6 L revision of the ohv “Kent” four. It may have been rated at only 66 hp, but the Fiesta was very light (some 1750 lbs). And I strongly suspect this one has been tuned to give considerably more; these Kent engines are eminently tuneable.

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I managed to get by him and peeled off one final shot. I’m hoping he keeps this one running for some time yet. When I spoke with him some five years ago, he said parts were getting hard to find. It can’t be getting any easier.

 

More: CC 1978 Ford Fiesta – Here Today, Gone Tomorrow