Ford Fiesta 1976 - 2023 | In memoriam
The Fiesta is done. We will not see its like again
What to say about the Fiesta? Nothing that hasn’t been said already, that’s for sure. The car was with us for nearly 50 years. For some of those decades, its status as Britain’s best-selling car seemed almost unassailable. Some of that success can be attributed to value for money and non-stop availability - Ford made a notoriously slim margin on most of them, and produced each generation in staggering volume - but we can also ascribe some of it to the enviable legacy of a truly household name, and, yes, no little affection.
It is virtually impossible, certainly, to have arrived at adulthood in this or any other recent decade and not known anyone who owned one. The Fiesta did not suffer the political characterisation of ‘Mondeo man’ because it was so ubiquitous that the phrase would have fitted no stereotype. Ford sold the Fiesta to all and sundry, men and women alike, parents and grandparents and their children, too. It is not unusual to encounter used Fiestas that have stayed in a single family for years, passed from one generation to another like stainless steel cutlery.
Like the Volkswagen Golf, the car did a pretty good job of defying class distinctions. Perhaps it didn’t share the Golf’s knack of appearing at home against any backdrop, but for years it featured on many more long gravel driveways than you might imagine - additional evidence that it was simply considered the go-to model when someone (anyone) wanted a practical small car that would do its job uncomplainingly and without fuss.
Filling that hole in people’s lives was at the root of its creation. No one needed to teach Ford about mobilising the masses - it literally wrote the book - but its European rivals pioneered the concept of downsized hatchbacks long before it arrived on the scene. When it did turn up though, partly driven by belt-tightening ‘70s buying habits, the Mk1 laid much of the foundation for the Fiesta’s enduring reputation.
The result of the exhaustive and hugely costly project ‘Bobcat’, the transverse-engined hatchback (its maker’s first) was an instant hit. It was decent to drive, impressively spacious (for the time), cheap to mend and good to look at. Ford built and sold it globally. By the time a second generation appeared in the early ‘80s, it already had the feel of another Blue Oval dynasty, and subsequent versions would often vie with the Escort (and then the Focus) for the title of Britain’s biggest-selling car.
Truthfully, of course, not every derivative was a humdinger. Ford didn’t always move at lightning speed (it was a decade before the car was available as a five-door) and some generations - notably the fourth - began to seem very drab versus newer, funkier rivals. But the Fiesta surged back into credit with the Mk7 and closely related Mk8, delivering 15 years of ‘Feel the Difference’ goodness to a whole new generation of customers, and producing an impressive tail-end to what is said to be a 22m global sales tally.
Today, Friday, that tally comes to an end. We knew it was coming, Ford having quietly confirmed the inevitable late last year when it announced that the last factory in Cologne would be modified to build only battery-electric cars from now on. No doubt the Fiesta is as much a victim of changing buying habits as it is Ford’s requirement to make space for other things (not to mention the plumper profits of what comes next) and the manufacturer can probably afford to be sanguine about the changeover when it can point to the recent success of the Puma in taking its place.
But we know better. Carmakers retire model names all the time. Precious few of them are reported by the BBC. Much as it was with the Mondeo, the end of the Fiesta nameplate reflects the fast-changing status of the industry and the world around it. For the better part of 50 years, you could be certain of walking into a Ford dealership and having your basic requirements for motoring met without question, like buying sliced white bread. What comes next will be pitched as walnut and almond sourdough in comparison. But Ford will not make it for half a century, nor sell it to what seems like everyone. Like the Fiesta, those days have gone.
I was selling new Fords in the early 90s and Fiestas used to sell like hot cakes, new and used. They were hugely popular with young and old people alike, and we had lots of repeat customers. I've personally owned 3 and we have a 4th (a 2014 Ecoboost) that we're caretaking for a relative while they recover from an op. Really enjoyed driving all of them, and jumping in the 2014 example, there's just something right about the way they drive.
I take issue with the comment that the mk4 was drab. This was the first Richard Parry Jones developed version with cracking 16v Yamaha codeveloped engines and thoroughly entertaining handling. It also gave rise to the (original) Puma which was dynamically praised across the board.
This was in the late 80s/early 90s so it had survived that long thanks to being in the careful ownership of an old gent who was a friend of my grans. He stopped driving and sold the car to my mum who used nearly all of its 950cc's worth of power.
I was mortified with it at the time; it was an embarrassment mainly due to the colour. When my mum bought a Civic she sold it to a family friend for their son to drive; I believe he wrote it off within a year, either through accident or shame.
ks if you had one. Green moulding stripes and 3 spoke wheels were hugely appealing for some reason, particularly in Black like a mates one was.I had an RS1800 in ‘99 … don’t remember much about it, but it was rusty at only 5-6 years old.
Again, I passed my test in a 950cc Popular. (Father wouldn’t have parted with his hard-earned for additional frippery and nonsense such as a passenger sun visor).
It brought me freedom, forgave my wild youthful driving excesses, entertained and educated.
C859YUB, you saved my bacon more than once, you beautiful light blue conveyance of delight.
I can see Ford getting themselves into trouble
Had a Mk1 1.3GL in HAB as my second car, SMP25Y, was great. Then later another 1300S, RPV2W, and after that a red Supersport XPU585X. Lots of happy memories.
Also had a Mk3 Ghia G37VOO from new but that was simply efficient.
The Mk1 remains a stone-cold classic.
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