Vintage R&T Review: 1978 Ford Fiesta Ghia – Ford’s First Go At Selling The Fiesta In The US

By that headline, I’m not saying that the Fiesta Mk1 was an abject failure in the US, but it was something of a marginal player, and Ford decided to not replace it after only three years, and it was effectively replaced by the larger US-built Escort. And of course Ford’s recent adventure in bringing back the Fiesta was just about equally successful, if not less so. I think it’s safe to say we’ll never see another Fiesta over here.

Both of them had their charms, but the Mark 1’s arrival here was a rather exceptionally bright spot. It was a brisk, nimble and very compact little car, in the Civic and VW Polo’s category, meaning one notch smaller than the Rabbit. But the real surprise was that Ford didn’t “Americanize” it, as they would soon do with wretched results in the Escort. With its 1.6 L four and very light weight (1835 lbs curb weight), it was very light on its feet, bot in a straight line as well as through the corners.

 

The red Fiesta is the one I shot for my CC on it here.