RIP Fiesta

[Eyersey1234]

RIP to the Fiesta after nearly 50 years of production as the last one rolls off the production line today. There can't be many who haven't had a Fiesta in their lives in some way.  

 

 

[Rightnider]

I’ve had a mk1 briefly, rusty and noisy but I’d still want another one with chrome bumpers if given the chance. 

[danthecapriman]

I’ve owned one but driven countless ones from mk1 all the way through. 
Loads in the family though. 
Grandad had a mk1.  
I had a mk2 1.3 Ghia, quite an early one. (B800YPU).   
My sisters had 4, 2x mk4 (1.4Ghia zetec s & 1.3LX), 1x mk5 (1.25LX) 1x mk6 (1.25 zetec).
Dad had a mk6 as a driving instructor car (1.4 Diesel).
Mum currently has a mk7 (1.25 zetec)

Great little cars. Perfect for what their intended purpose was, cheap to run and easy to drive. Shame they’re now stopping making them really. 
What’s the replacement going to be?
 

[sierraman]

We had a Mk4 1.25 Zetec. Loved it, went really well and sounded good when you gave it some beans. The downside was it rusting before my eyes, eventually when fist sized holes appeared in the floor it had to go. Completely neglected it, never changed the oil or anything but it kept going. I think back I paid £500 for it, had 2.5 years out of it and got £300 back. Lost £200 but such is life. 

Would have another tomorrow, unfortunately past 10 years or so I’ve needed something big enough for fitting lengths of timber in, kids, prams etc etc so unfortunately it’s a no go. 

All good thing etc etc, people say they’re mad to cease production but really if you don’t change with the tastes you end up becoming irrelevant and obsolete. Wasn’t a huge fan at first but the Puma looks ok, you can see why it appeals to people in this day and age. Very practical, the bung in the boot floor is good, in the past I’ve had to drill a hole in the boot floor in Fiestas/Escorts to let all the rainwater piss out. Not heard anything bad reliabilitywise about them, even the dreaded wet belt is now a chain on them. Long live the Puma

[5speedracer]

Despite driving since 1979 I've hardly had anything to do with Fiestas. Some passengering around the late 70's/early 80's as a mates mum had one. 

Overachieving little things as they seemed to be only developed as much as they had to to keep up and always to a price.

[Jerzy Woking]

I had a 1987 Fiesta diesel van for a while. Was previously used to collect and deliver films from chemists for overnight developing. I assumed that it was thrashed for every single mile on its clock.

Nice and clean, drove OK, although the cabin always smelt of diesel.

Written off when a Mazda van, with full bull bars, shortened it by about 3 feet when he hit me at about 30 mph whilst I was sat stationary in a queue. Blocked the road for about an hour.

Got double what I paid for it from the insurers, and £3k for whiplash (which I never claimed, they just paid it).

Never had another.

 

[Bren]

We had a 51 plate ghia - pepper red with the 1.25 zetec. Nice - until it literally began fizzing in front of us. They liked to rot.

[Six-cylinder]

I have owned a MK1 facelift Fiesta 1100 base it was a very tatty old car but good fun. I sold it to a man from New Zealand who was touring the UK.

[w00dy]

A true car of the people. I've never owned one, but have had a hand in a fair few being bought by others and have driven a fair few.

In a world where we supposedly care about emissions then why is everyone buying less efficient jacked up shite? The "Puma" can fuck off.

 

[sierraman]

Some say if you stand quietly near a Mk4 Fiesta you can hear the corrosion. 

[JakeT]

Owned a couple. Only car I’ve ever crashed, whoops.

 

Even did 4,000 miles in a month in one, somehow. A mk5 1.25 ‘Freestyle’ with A/C. Great little car, and would take revs like few things else. Once, passing a truck up the A38 I just held it in third at 6,000 revs for half a mile. It didn’t care.

 

The good lady has had a mk6.5 1.6 TDCi (of doom) since 2018. Been a good little car, too. Great on fuel cheap to fix when it does break, and has lots of options as it was a Ford car new.

 

There’s been many in the family over the years. My grandfather had a load of them as driving school cars. Sad the fiesta is gone, but one day it hopefully will be back.

[Shite Ron]

I have never owned and surprisingly don’t remember driving a Fiesta but do now find an early mk1 surprisingly alluring.

I was however fortunate enough to have a tour of the factory at Cologne last September:

[Noel Tidybeard]

[Marina door handles]

I preferred the magazine......

[Shite Ron]

Just now, Marina door handles said:

I preferred the magazine......

Proper Ford’s were either named after exotic sounding locations or magazines when Ford were at the top. The dull names reflect the dull cars today.  The sixties and seventies were when cars were really exciting.

[eddyramrod]

I passed my test in a lovely new mk1, UYM 717S; a BSM car in Peppermint Green.  I thought it was terrific, but somehow I've never managed to own one.  I've driven a handful belonging to other people, and recently had a 2018 model as a courtesy car, but that's all really.

[ProgRocker]

I never owned one but my friends at college owned various mark 2s. This was the late 1990s so they were cheap A to B transport by then. One had an XR2 that was sadly written off by a third party and was replaced with a gold 1.3 Ghia. 

I think Ford could reintroduce a supermini in the future but it will likely be electric only or some other power source. 

[willswitchengage]

Also, what a great name for a car.

Implies fun etc, works in all languages. Doesn't requires the brand to be stated. See also Golf and Polo for great names which will seemingly last forever.

[wuvvum]

I've had four, three of which were XR2s (two Mk1s and a Mk2).  The other was a Mk1 1.3 Ghia bought from an auction for 30 quid - red with a gold driver's door which was held on with duct tape.  Drove OK though and had MOT.

The newer ones never really appealed to me.

[big_al_granvia]

Never owned one but mate had a 88 mk2. Plenty experience picking up bits as in Scotland we had a thriving xr2 race series, ok towards the end most panels were wob and fiberglass, always tow from the cage. Saw a few massive rolls when the back axles failed or a stub axle sheared. There must be dozens rusting away

[adw1977]

Weirdly I don't think I've ever driven a right hand drive Fiesta.  I did have one as a hire car in Hawaii about 12 years ago and it was slow up hills despite being a 1.6.

The launch brochures for Mark 2 (1983) and Mark 3 (1989) from my scans on Flickr might be of interest:

Mark 2 launch brochure on Flickr

Mark 3 launch brochure on Flickr

[Cheezey]

Did Wheeler Dealers find their one that was stolen recently? 

[2flags]

I've had loads of them as a driving instructor.  We started off with the 1.25 with A/C. When you switch on the A/C you could feel the power drain!! This went on to the 1.4 and then the eco-boost. 125bhp in that lightweight body 😁 Proper little pocket rocket! Then went on to the diesel, pulled like a train and it gave a genuine 60mpg teaching! We then went over to the Focus.

[Matty]

We've got one. Wife hates it, but I reckon I'd move her on first. Great car

[catsinthewelder]

I sort of inherited my mum's F reg mk2 Bonus but never got to drive it as I was 13. 

I think the only Fiestas I've driven are a pair of 16 plate base specs we had on the hire fleet.  The doom blue one is long gone but the red one is still about providing transport to the gaffers wife and daughter despite being rear ended by a London bus at one point.  It's a 1.25 Zetec and isn't the fastest thing on 4 wheels but goes ok if thrashed.

[155V6]

I've nearly got two 😂

[MrBiscuits]

Like a lot of people I learned to drive in one - a flat red 'sad face' 1.8d that was as slow as a week in jail. Drove a few mk1s & 2s in my teens/twenties as mates had them. They were pretty unremarkable and didn't stop me buying minis.

Thinking more broadly part of me wonders if this is the beginning of the end of the cheap basic car. With conventional power trains set to become extinct profit will only be found in the 'premium' end of the market unless or until batteries get a lot cheaper and lighter.

[Eyersey1234]

7 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

I’ve owned one but driven countless ones from mk1 all the way through. 
Loads in the family though. 
Grandad had a mk1.  
I had a mk2 1.3 Ghia, quite an early one. (B800YPU).   
My sisters had 4, 2x mk4 (1.4Ghia zetec s & 1.3LX), 1x mk5 (1.25LX) 1x mk6 (1.25 zetec).
Dad had a mk6 as a driving instructor car (1.4 Diesel).
Mum currently has a mk7 (1.25 zetec)

Great little cars. Perfect for what their intended purpose was, cheap to run and easy to drive. Shame they’re now stopping making them really. 
What’s the replacement going to be?
 

I think the Puma is the kind of replacement for it

[Eyersey1234]

5 hours ago, sierraman said:

Some say if you stand quietly near a Mk4 Fiesta you can hear the corrosion. 

I thought that was the Mk1 or the Mk3

[RoverFolkUs]

I had a MK4 on a V plate.. it had dissolved by 2007 🤣