You wait for one Fiesta story and then two turn up at once! OK, you probably weren't waiting for one about a
beige Mk2 1.1 L
but here it comes anyway, wheezing in the wake of its
younger ST sibling
What could possibly appeal about a car like this, quite possibly priced at 10 times what most equivalents would go for?
From ubiquity to obscurity in two decades
Well, there's some personal nostalgia in it for your correspondent. Currently in the market for a shopping trolley Mk6 Fiesta the PH classifieds inevitably delivered all sorts of tempting alternatives to the white bread five-door 1.4 Zetec I'm supposed to be buying. That required door count rules out all sorts of otherwise suggestive alternatives, STs of various vintages included. And, probably for the best, this car.
There's always something beguiling about a once commonplace car somehow plucked from the expected lifecycle and cryogenically frozen in time while its many millions of contemporaries make the inexorable downward slide through shed-dom, first car (ab)use and eventually the scrapyard. Indeed, most Mk2 Fiestas have already made that journey from white goods transport and fixture of every street in the land to obscurity and near-extinction in seemingly the blink of an eye.
Yep, it's pretty beige in here too
My personal connection with the Mk2 Fiesta is that both my grans had them and let me drive them at a tender age, creating an unbreakable association in my head between the dumpy little Ford and the joy and freedom a freshly printed licence represented. So I'd have it. Even in beige.
But what would I do with it then? Use it? Well, that'd ruin its unique appeal obviously. Polish it and take it to the occasional Ford concours event? Not sure I've got the patience to be honest but I'd shake the hand of anyone willing to shoulder the responsibility and keep this four-wheeled slice of nostalgia alive for my future reminiscence.
Meanwhile here it rests, surrounded by all sorts of exotica at vendor Maundrell & Co. Would, at any other point in its life, this humble little Fiesta ever have expected to find itself rubbing shoulders with Maseratis, Porsches and Ferraris? Not likely. But here it is, an entirely unexceptional car elevated to the exceptional purely by the gift of a charmed life.
FORD FIESTA 1.1 L
Engine: 1,117cc 4-cyl
Transmission: 4-speed manual
Power (hp): 53@5,700rpm
Torque (lb ft): 59@3,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1985
Recorded mileage: 31,736
Price new: £5,083
Yours for: £1,999
See the original advert here.
[Sources: tech info from carinf.com]