How do you define what constitutes a Classic Car? Is it an era? An age? A body style? I have asked myself this question many times over the years, most recently a couple weeks ago. I had spotted a 1992 Ford Festiva at a local supplier’s shop and thought it was worthy of admittance here at Curbside Classics. Then later, upon reflection as I was cruising back to my project, the definition of a Classic Car came, once again, to mind. I mean this longrooffan remembers when Ford Festivas were plentiful out in the wild back in the late 80’s and early 90’s and I didn’t even give them a second thought.
I am certain that everyone asked the question “What is a Classic Car?” will come up with a different answer. While, admittedly, I hang with some relatively auto centric friends and family, I did an extremely unscientific poll of some of them asking that same question. My research finds were varied and, at least to this longrooffan, educational.
My first stop on this quest was at my neighbor’s home. Bert is an 89 year old WWII veteran who lives alone in one of the units of the triplex condo I call home. Interestingly enough, (well at least to me anyway) Bert was a fertilizer and feed salesman in my growing up neck of the woods, the Ozark Mountain region of southwest Missouri. One of his accounts, back in the day, was our local general store in Halltown, Missouri my buddy Steve Matherly’s family owned. Incidentally, it also served as the US Post Office….Haven Lee Farms was box 107 BTW. Anyway, Bert is about as car neutral as anyone I know. He no longer drives but his last car was a 1992 Toyota Corolla built at the, now occupied by Tesla, NUMMI plant many moons ago.
When I posed the “Classic Car” question to him he, in the way I have come to know he responds, replied, “Jooohhhnnn, that is a good question. I guess I would have to say that a ‘Classic Car’ would represent an era. Now by that I mean that a time in which generation of automobiles were defined.”
Yeah, Bert, but to you what is a “Classic Car?”
“Well, Jooohhhnn, I am going to say that the definitive ‘Classic Car’ would be a 1934 Chrysler Desoto Airflow.”
What? I just about died when he mentioned Chrysler’s debacle. Bert, you are talking about one of the biggest flops in the automotive industry.
“No John, the biggest would have to be the Edsel.” Again, I was flabbergasted. But why the Airflow?
“Well John, it was designed in a time of great depression and suffering and it was thought to be a grand change in car design. The fact it turned out to be totally rejected by the general population didn’t make it any less ‘Classic’.”
Man, was I floored by his response. But I think he is correct.
So in further exploration of the definition of a “Classic Car” I approached my 18 year old just graduated from high school nephew who I affectionately refer to as “the Kid”. Now I must clarify this. the Kid has grown up as the son of my brother, thejeepjunkie, and thus has a somewhat distorted view of vehicle ownership. Hell his first car was a 1966 Jeep CJ5. “Man, john john, that’s a tough one,” he replied. “The first thought is a mid 50’s Belair but then an early Mustang is just as much a ‘Classic’.”
This longrooffan has a terribly disgusting addiction to both nicotine and the Florida Lottery, needs met at my local stop-n-rob. I usually pass by later in the day and often times the same staff is working. They are a dude driving a 92 Saturn and the other is a young lady driving an 88 E30 sedan, like my former oleragtop. We have often struck up conversations about automobiles as I am prone to do. The Saturn owner got some advice about coolant in his oil while the E30 owner was the lucky recipient of some cast off parts from some of my ragtops. I posed this question to them and the Saturn owner said “anything before the 1970’s” yet the young lady’s reponse was definitive. “A 1962 Chevy Bubbletop.” I just about fell over in surprise at the response of this early 20 years of age woman.
I presented this question to my buddy, TheKenMan, who owns something like 14-15 Mustang Shelbys, at least one Avanti, a GM roll back flatbed, a couple old street rods, a trio of tri-5 Chevys, one of which he was driving as we were having this Wisconsin/Florida cellular conversation. “Hell, longroof, to me it will always be the ‘Gangster Era’ cars of the mid to late 30’s. I know everyone thinks my 57 Belair is a classic but I’ve always liked those old open fender beasts from way back.” Yeah TheKenMan is showing every bit of his 62 years.
This is not a whole Hooniverse Asks type of  question, hell the commenters here on the Curb are vocal enough. But, here I am back at the same dilemma I have been facing for the past couple weeks. This 1992 Ford Festiva, one of which I cannot remember seeing in the past decade, and I would have noticed, doesn’t even qualify for the blue plate special here in the state of Florida. But it is such a rarity to see this automatic seat belt, Costco visiting early 90’s hatchback out in the wild that this longrooffan believes it does constitute a ‘Classic’ and I’ve decided to include it here during what might just become Ford week on Curbside Classic.
Plus I finally found a “beater” to go with the trailer queens I have been posting recently. And here’s to hanging on the curb with all ya’ll. Thanks for having me around.
I think it’s a “curbside classic” and fits the tone of this site. CC are (too me) cars that are unique and interesting NOW. Was the Festiva unique and interesting back in 1992? Hell no. Is it unique and intesting now? Absolutely. Low survival rates (cause of their cheapness and the sort of folks who usually bought one) and the fact that it was one of KIA’s early entries into our market make it interesting to me. Growing up in the Midwest U.S. the only people I knew who had one new were employees of FoMoCo.
Now that my contract is finally ending for the year we may have this debate again as I start writting articles about my little corner of Route 66.
I look forward to them!
Festivas actually don’t have a low survival rate here in San Diego. I see them every couple weeks. I still point them out to my friends, who probably don’t have a clue why. I had one back when they first came out, my first new car. It wasn’t a fancy LX like this one, and being an ’88 model sold in mid-’87 it did without the diabolical automatic seatbelts. I liked it for a while, although the Ford dealer failed it on its one year state inspection for at least three reasons. That was sort of souring on it and on the Ford dealer. It isn’t a classic yet, but maybe if we never fire the bureaucrats whose job it is to make cars heavier and more expensive every year it will be some day.
Just what are automatic seatbelts thats something we havent had inflicted on us yet?
The top of the shoulder belt was attached to a track that ran around the front window. When the door was opened a motor would move the top of the belt along the track to the front of the window, thus getting it out of the way of the driver/passenger who could then exit or enter. When the door was closed the top of the belt would return to rear of the window, placing the belt pretty close to the position we have belts in now.
I had this on a Toyota Cressida. Thought it was a good idea. It was not a bother for me but others did complain.
My 90 Subaru Loyale had those. I never cared for them because I wondered what to do when the drive motor broke.
Interesting that Dan mentioned the only people he knew of who bought a Festiva new were Ford employees. A family I knew as a kid bought TWO new Festivas new at the same time, and yep, the dad was an employee of Ford and made glass at the Ford glass plant in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. They had a large family and of course also had an extended Eddie Bauer Aerostar, but I don’t think it was bought new. Unfortunately, Kent was killed while driving one of the Festivas. He was a good and decent man, and I felt awful for my friends (his kids) and his wife. I don’t recall the details of the crash now, but I do recally it was the type that he would have stood a much better chance in almost any larger car with airbags. (It should be said that I am NOT the type that automatically equates the relative safety of any given car with its size.)
As for the Festivas themselves, the family beat the living shit out of those little cars, but the Festivas hung in there. There was a red one and a blue one. They lived 15ish miles from any highway and had to drive badly maintained Oklahoma county roads many times a day. With all those kids in sports and band and whatnot, there was always someplace to go or be, and both parents commuted to Tulsa for full-time jobs, and one was in collge. (Looking back, that family was simply amazing in their ability to get things done.) To make it worse, the two oldest girls were of driving age maybe 3 years after the Festivas were getting kinda tired. I remember driving the blue one, but I don’t remember why, and I recall thinking it needed more power and that it seemed more substantial than the other cheap car popular in Oklahoma in the early ’90s, the Geo Metro. I DID know several families who bought those new, also beat them to shit, and still the cars held up better than they had any right to.
The ’92 Festiva is a classic. They and their ilk were sold in significant numbers, filled a niche, served their purpose, and are now mostly extinct or on life support. Somewhere, somebody has fond memories of riding around in this cheap little car that cost nothing to buy and nothing to run, and what fun they had! As the owner of a decrepit ’88 Town Car, my ass puckers every time I pass a gas station and the price has gone up. I wouldn’t mind 35 or 40 mpg once in a while. Claudine the Lincoln couldn’t get 35 mpg if you dropped her out of an airplane with the key off…
I work at a Ford dealership and I find it amusing, I’m new up there and we are getting in the new Fiestas. Every time one comes up in conversation with one of the managers, they always slip and call it the Festiva. You can tell none of them really understand or appreciate the market for either car. To end my little loosely on topic ramble, it is an microcosm example of the hubris inherent in the American car market.
Is this an EEC-IV, btw?
THese little cars are actually a MAZDA 121 great cars they just keep going shows the Korean car industry could copy something successfully Kia made a great car here for Ford,fWhy could Daewoo not copy a Vauxhall without turning it into shit?
That’s a good question. I’ve lived here a good number of years and I had a Daewoo LeMans (Opel Kadett) as my first car. Back in my penurious dark old days of the mid 90s, the two most affordable late model used cars were either this or the Hyundai Excel. The LeMans may have been less well built, but it outran, outhandled, and outlooked the Excel. The Koreans couldn’t shake out the German DNA. The downfall of the car was manufacturing quality. I have been told by Korean businessmen that since Hyundai is a “national champion”,
they,by various measures, call first dibbs on the top suppliers in the country.
Daewoo got the dregs in this period.. This would explain the numberous electrical and fuel system troubles I had, as well as the general suckiness of it.
A saw a lot get scrapped when they were well under 10 years old.
There was nothing bad about it’s basic design and I’d still choose over an Excel and day.
Funny thing, deltaroyale, many people still call these cars Fiestas.
I knew a girl who bought one of these new, a ’91, I think. She bought it for the same reason most others did: it was the only new car she could afford. (She called it a Fiesta, too, and she OWNED the damned thing!) I don’t know how long she had it, but it was a genuine dispoz-a-car, typical of the class. However, I don’t recall her complaining about having a lot of trouble with it, so I guess it was OK. I personally couldn’t stand riding around in that little tin can; my apologies to small car fans everywhere. I will never own anything like it, but I do understand the appeal of a car that size.
Now, is it a classic? In the traditional sense of the word, not a chance. Nobody will be lovingly restoring one to concours standards any time soon, nobody’s hanging Festiva posters in their bedrooms, and not a tear is shed when one goes to the crusher. Also, it was made after 1971, which would disqualify it right there in many people’s eyes. However, this site isn’t about those kinds of cars. This site, for the most part, spotlights a wide variety of survivor cars that have spent decades serving their owners and have managed to stay running and roadworthy. Here in Michigan, I can’t remember the last time I saw a Festiva (they turned to piles of rust FAST in these parts), so seeing one that has stayed on the road for almost 20 years is rather remarkable. Yes, it has a place here.
Ah, the Kia Pride. Getting rare here in Korea too, where often cars over 10 years old get sent to the crusher regardless of thier condition (which can be pretty nice in some cases, it galling to me). It’s difficult to get replacement parts for older cars here, too, which is done on prurpose I’m sure. They even “Jetta-ized” it here, adding a trunk and some more upscale trim and features.
I spent several minutes contemplating just what is a classic car. After several half-baked ideas, I finally decided that I cannot tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it. And this Festiva qualifies.
I never gave these cars a second thought back when they were new, but this one has been cared for and survives. I would never have crossed the street to look at one of these 10 years ago. But time and the elements have cleared these from the streetscape almost everywhere. A fresh look at a well cared for example like this is now a treat.
I don’t want to spray my rain on this parade…but if we’re going to label a dispoz-a-car like the Festervia a classic…there are better examples.
The Chevy Sprint/Geo Metro was a better all-around driver; better at what it was supposed to do…give high fuel economy. It even approached status as a Driver’s Car…I used to say, you didn’t drive it, you wore it. It was a low seat, but it fit even big American bodies. And it saved.
And the quirky 3-cylinder was interesting to a tech-geek like myself. And the power-nothing appealed to my inner Spartan.
Longroof, good writeup…but I’d strenuously disagree with the choice.
By my own standards, I would give this car a resounding thumbs-down. It’s a small econobox that I don’t think of as being that old. Meh. However, the criteria of CC often seems to be:
1. cars that I would point out to other people if I saw one on the street, because you rarely see that model any more, and/or
2. a tribute to the frugal — cars whose owners take care of them so they have lasted a long time.
On those points this car is appropriate subject matter on CC.
However, this particular article isn’t about the car at all, except as a starting point for discussion. It’s really an editorial and informal poll on what “classic” means to different people. I like it.
I’d consider it a classic simply for the SHOgun spinoff. I still want one of these so I can build my own version.
This thing has made me curious. So I looked in my ’90 Ford shop manual and on the front page where it lists the entire FordLincolnMercury lineup for that year the Festiva is not mentioned. So it was really just marketed by Ford, but Ford really had nothing to do with the car’s mechanics, eh?
I believe that is mostly correct. As someone else mentioned, it a Kia, based on a Mazda, rebadged a Ford to sell in America. The first Kia-badged car sold in America, the Sephia, was also based on a Mazda. I believe I remember the original Sportage as being a more-or-less entirely Kia design, though.
I worked at a dealer (albeit as a VW tech) that also sold Kias, and the old Sephias and Sportages were awful, awful cars. Especially the Sportage. Dangerously underpowered, front 4×4 hub problems, just awful.
That Festiva in the bright Aqua paint is definitely a classic because it captures the early 90’s. The only things missing are a couple of hibiscus print neoprene seat covers and some splatter graphics.
A fellow Mopar freak had one of these little cars and liked it a lot. He and his wife drove it from Seattle to New England and back, and he said that it had Mopar parts and pieces tied on the top and sides on the way back home – NOS stuff that he’d picked up along the way. That must have been fun.
I won’t add anything to the “Is it a classic?” debate concerning this car, because I think previous commenters have pretty well covered the subject. But I will say, olelongrooffan, that I enjoy your contributions here.
Wonderful article, not what I expected from the title. I’m impressed with your family, friends and neighbors. Lots of real classics there.
But how many of you have actually driven this little ****box Festiva? I made the mistake of renting one from the dealer when my (now ex-)wife’s ’86 Sable needed some extended work. On the freeway it felt tiny, tall and tippy like a phone booth. I love small cars, one of my all time favorite cars was my ’77 Civic CVCC 5-speed. But this crate’s handling, lack of power and overall crappiness were downright scary. I couldn’t stand it another day and rented an Escort instead, which was a much better car. That says it all right there.
Sometimes a car is old and rare for some very good reasons. *Not* a classic.
Shocks, springs, swaybars, better tires — bet it’d be ok. But a clean, unmolested late ’80s Civic hatch would be so much nicer. 🙂
I’ll echo what others have said though, Longrooffan — regardless of your automotive choices your columns make for some compelling reading. Excellent job!
Just for the record: as a lover of bathtub Nashes, Chrysler Airflows, and other odd contraptions it’s always seemed clear that “classic”, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
Well, the Festiva was first introduced in 1986 and any vehicle 25 years or older is a classic, so yeah, it’s a classic.
Festivas were really fun used and near the end of their life cycle. Cheap to buy and virtually invisible to police. They had such low limits, you could abuse it and not get hurt. Hilarious to see one do a burnout. Great car to play pranks with. Four stout men can move a Festiva to any location they can get to.
I worked with a woman who had one of these cars, it was a good little car for her. Cheap to own, cheap to run. It’s run on the planet was terminated by an equally small car smashing into the passenger side. If it had hit the driver side, she probably still wouldn’t be with us.
Even more amusingly, back in the early 90’s, my Yugo GVX was involved in an accident with a Festiva driven by a drunken driver. He pushed me into the back of a Nissan Maxima. The Maxima suffered a scratch on the back bumper. The Festiva and the GVX were totaled.
Now, THERE’s a thought! A Yugo CC!
These cars was once popular in Quebec, here some funny vintage ads who was broadcasted here then I founded on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-yDPa8dhPM
I would like to belatedly cast my vote for classic. This is my work car /daily driver.
190000 miles and everything still works even the air conditioning. As a side note: it is what must be one of the few automatic Festivas made as I have not seen another.
1993 GL model.
Do any of you know more about the development of this car? I’ve read it was designed and engineered by Mazda. But the fact that it was only marketed as a Ford in Japan makes me curious about how it all happened. As I see it, the Festival was not a Mazda. It seems like the idea came from Ford, and Mazda did the car for them. That it was built in Korea seemingly from the start, is also interesting. Sounds like a perfect job from Ford. That is how to make a world car, and make proper use of a carmaker’s global operations! Ford was on a roll in the mid 80s.
Those Festivas were awesome cars. They were extremely reliable and very well made, unlike the rest of the Ford lineup back then. I had a ’92 Festiva my parents gifted me with as a grad gift. I drove the bejesus out of it and it never left me stranded. Ford sure dosen’t build them like that anymore.
My Definition of a Classic:
a) 15 or more years old
b) Still Runs
c) Representative of the time period in question (either good or bad)
d) brings back “strong” memories
e) makes the owner Happy!!
My personal favorite of the mini car is the predecessor Ford Fiesta (’78 thru ’80 model years). So wanted one while in college, but stuck with a ’75 Corolla.
A future candidate for Curbside Classic is the current edition of the Fiat 500. This car brings back the fun in driving!!
The way I heard it was that Ford which had a large stake in Mazda, bought the tooling for the Mazda 121 and set up Kia (which they also had a stake in) to produce the Festiva so they could meet CAFE requirements.
We bought a new ’93 5spd and drove it for 19 years and 215k. It scaled Pikes Peak, Mt Washington and got salted in Key West and on the Olympic Peninsula. Rarely got under 40 mpg at a steady 60 mph. The main problem areas were front wheel bearings which were set up with shims and a pain to have done correctly and the exhaust system collected water in a bend by the muffler and perforated way too quickly. Otherwise they were bullet proof and and a pizza delivery dream. It rode on 12″ tires which I used to buy a farm store for like 19 bucks each. In my opinion easily one of the best econoboxes ever imported into the US. An 1800 pound 62 hp dynamo
We followed that up with a ’99 Hyundai Elantra 5spd wagon which is still going strong at 196k….. our latest is a ’07 short wheel base Kia Sedona minivan which is one tough cookie, fast, and handles pretty nice too…..as you may have noticed we like Korean cars 🙂