I don't think I have ever seen a Ford Fiesta this old. Cool little car. People say the Pinto was very dangerous but it really wasn't anymore dangerous than the other cars in its class at the time. The Pinto was actually a pretty decent car
@@sybsygstgstsgysg5330 Chevy trucks were also known to burst into flames just by looking at them. The media never shut up about the Pinto, so it was burned into everyone's mind. That, and Ford decided that the lawsuit would be cheaper than coming up with a remedy. The Pinto wasn't really that much more deadly, it was just more notorious.
@@OhPhuckYou I already know everything you just said, and understand what you’re trying to say, but were talking about the cars in its class, not a full-size truck
That's not the issue with the Pinto. The issue is that Ford knowingly built a car that could explode because of a design flaw at all. Anyone who chooses profit over death should be held accountable.
Bought one of these back in the day for my wife when she was in college....frickin' bullet proof little hatch....my granddaughter has it now...for real!
My dad happened to be the first owner of this car. When he passed in 2018, we kept it for awhile and unfortunately sold it not thinking how special it was.
God, I love the first gen Fiesta. I squealed with joy the moment I found out Ford sold them in America! Usually, for European cars that were Federalized, I prefer the original Euro look, but in the first-gen Fiesta's case, I like the USDM version better... it's just so stinkin' cute!! ^_^
My gramps had one of these. As a little kid I loved that car. I used to sit in it and pretend to drive it, honk the horn, and play with the interior buttons & features. Would love to have one now…Thanks for the memory.
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 yes 5 golden trophies for an awesome review. I owned a sky blew 1978 Ford Fiesta back around 1990 in which I toured Northern California and drove through the Mojave desert at night since there was no air conditioner. It was just as fun as driving my '87 Nissan 300 ZX. I wish I still had this Ford! ☹️☹️☹️
Super cool little car. I don't know if many people realize how much satisfaction can be had from a car that feels fast, but isn't. As for the price, I was curious about how much 5000 1978 dollars are worth in 2022 dollars. I was a little surprised to see that it's over $22,000!
I remember this car. "The world car." A platform that Ford could use almost the world over to sell in many countries. The ads always had flags of the world on it. We cut smog pumps off all our cars in high school. My auto mechanics teacher drove this same car in red, when it ran. Thanks Zach I had forgotten about the World Car.
I had one of these '78's, which I purchased from a dealer in '82 for $1,800. I loved it! Mine was a Ghia model with the removable moon roof, which stored in the back. It did a great job for the three years I owned it, until I went to a quick oil change place and they didn't put the oil plug back in correctly. The engine "blew" on the expressway, at 1:00AM in sub-zero temperatures. There's more to that story that I won't share now. Anyway, I'm in my 60s now and I fantasize about buying another one and paying to get it restored to original condition... Then, taking it to the Woodward Dream Cruise, just to see the reaction I'd get.
That is literally the first first-gen Fiesta I've seen with a tach! Stateside or in Europe, tachs are rare on these! Because "By Jove, dear boy, the peasants shan't get a revolution counter!"
I had a 1980 model. It was the BEST little car I have ever had ! I was young and drove the crap out of it and didn't take care of it YET, it just kept rolling on ! It was built tough !
One more thing... There used to be a salvage yard, just north of Kalamazoo, MI on Interstate 131. They sold parts and bodies reclaimed from the gen-1 cars brought in. It turns out the of Fiestas were used in a popular racing circuit. No kidding.
One of first cars I ever drove with a 4 speed manual was my then girlfriends mothers 1984 Chevette. Coming to my house after her parents fell asleep so we could tour the town. With like 60hp and that manual trans going 0-60 in like 16-17 seconds it was insanely slow but it felt peppy at the time. I know we’ve advanced so far but with all the new tech comes so many more problems. That little car brought some fun to being a teenager and that crusty Mom of hers to work everyday. When I was able to afford my own car I grabbed 1989 Pontiac Trans Am GTA w/ T-Roof. Now that I was slight improvement in all areas. Definitely enjoyed those simpler times. Love these videos !
This was my first new car, a Red Ghia version with Alloy wheels. I drove it for 9 years and 162k miles. It was super fun, not fast, but felt fast. The mpg was great 44 was my average. I even added upgraded suspension, because I liked to corner fast. Funny thing was that people ignored it, and at the time I had a super expensive stereo system, and I sometimes forgot to lock it. Cars around me once all were butchered and had their stereos stolen, mine was not. Oh yeah, no A/C... but we had a vent wing!! It made me a hatchback/wagon customer for life... no like for sedans. Its a joy to see them still on the road.. as that is a super super rare experience.
The US version was very similar to the EU version but sporting parts from the XR2 version. For example the more powerful crossflow engine and headlights just to name a few.
Here in Europe we also do have a lot of narrow roads and they are just popular. Mk1 went on until 1983 when we got the mk 2, essentially a heavily facelifted mk 1. American cars are just too big. Also when referring to Mini, it's Mini, not all Minis are coopers, it's a variant such as clubman, Mayfair. Mini was introduced 1959, Mini Cooper 1963.
My mom got a new one in 1978, and the only option she had to have was the smokers vent window. We installed a c.b. on the dash and a f.m. 8 track player in it.
The early Fiesta may have been subcompacts, but my insurance company listed them as compacts. Huge difference as far as insurance rates. But that car always saved me money. When my 1978 had over 130k miles on it some azzhole at the state DOT typed “odometer exceeds mechanical limits” on my new registration.
You say the engine is small but ours in Europe started with a 957cc, went up to a 1.1-litre, and the top versions got a 1.3 for a few years until the sporty 1981 1.6-litre XR2 came along.
My next door neighbour in Pennsylvania had a red '78 Fiesta Sport....it had alloy rims though,& if I remember correctly,a large 'S' decal on the sides,near the taillights,in the same colour as the side stripes. It had the same seats with stripes.
The fiesta was a great improved touring road racing car back in the 80’s. You could get an aftermarket Quaife transaxle and a variety of famous brands of super lightweight wheels and suspension parts from Koni, among others. The fiesta, like the pinto, was built to be much more than the sum of its parts, if it’s owner chose to modify it for a performance purpose.
I bought a brand new, optionless, 1980 Fiesta which I then drove >100K miles in three years for my job. I travelled around the state of Iowa fixing physically large computers in auto parts stores, so the back seat was kept folded down to hold all of my manuals and spare parts. The exhaust rusted at ~ 70K, and the water pump leaked at 90K, but otherwise, the car was a bulldog. Nothing could stop it, with surprisingly good traction in snow even with those 12" wheels. There certainly was no fuel door lock, to contradict this video. The video however is spot-on concerning the driving dynamics, with 60 mph feeling like 45 in a larger car. The engine was torquey, not a revver, and I recall an overall gas mileage in the mid-30's. An added rear sway bar (standard on the Sport and Ghia) made a huge improvement to the handling, but it was no sports car. Being optionless, the car had no glovebox door, radio, tachometer, or dimmable rear view mirror. Even though it had an alternator, there was a GEN light on the dash, which is odd. To install a standard in-dash ratio of the period, Ford would sell you a plastic housing you hung under the dash. I later owned a 78 and 79 model for perhaps 6 months each. When the zombie apocalypse comes, this is the reliable little car you want, although the 10 gallon gas tank would limit the length of your excursions.
Mine is a 1300 Valencia engine, is mighty slow, you feel like you are doing 100mph, but you are doing 60 maybe, is really funny and fun. Also a thing i noticed is that the US Spec has words on everything and the European version has icons. Also the fuel cap has a door in the US model and the European has the cap visible. And of course the US bumpers and rear license plate lights are different.
Out of the big 3 Ford did small cars the best. The Pinto was a decent car and reliable. The Lima or Pinto engine was used continuously in different variations to the ‘90’s. The Escort was a fairly good car compared to what GM and Chrysler offered. And this Fiesta is a cool little car with decent reliability.
Likely has separate fuel door key cause original replaced. I’ve been in a couple as a GenX kid. Both Yellow. They were like budget Rabbit GTIs in some ways, before they were available. These are soooo much better than the Escort that followed.
Oversized American spec bumpers kill the flowing shape of this classic . Check out the UK vintage fiestas, and our dinky engines which were still fun to chuck around a twisty UK road .
didn't know this Euro car went over to the States. Being the Liter it actualy was a XR2...... being the Sportversion over in Europe; it seems here it was a bit of a standard plain car.
I have never understood why a designer would make the tachometer read x100s - in this case it is especially weird since the speedometer and tachometer look almost identical due to the 85 mph maximum on the speedometer.
Ford and some other carmakers are doing the opposite now with their digital dashes. Idle reads 0.6. While it's still the x1000 scale we're used to, it looks weird. There's no reason why they can't just have four digits with idle being 600 and the XX00 incrementing as necessary.
@@bwofficial1776 I assume it’s because if they had all four numbers the constantly changing last two digits at idle would be distracting and tiring. With the old school needle you never notice it moving but digitally you would see the constant numbers changing.
This was a very interesting review. It reminded me of a car that my friend had it was his first car the year would have been 1996 I don't know if it was late 70s or early '80s but it was a Chevy 4 cylinder kind of look like this but it was rear wheel drive. And it was automatic I believe it was three speed.
People who weren't driving back in the late 70's early 80s forget just how bad 'performance' was - this little Fiesta was one of, if not the quickest small hatachbacks you could buy. 68 hp, but only 1700 pounds. The 4 speed was geared short, and I've seen 0-60 published as 10.4 (though more probably 11). In small car world, that was performance. It could eat a Celica or the then bug like 200SX to highway speed. And it was German, so it hanlded better than most of what Japan offered at the time - although the Accord was a much nicer driving experience overall and probably the gold standard. Fiesta's achilles heel - in addition to no auto for the US market - was its German price tag. It was expensive (and somewhat Spartan below the Sport or Ghia trim) for what you got. Don't know where the AC sticker came - brochure and period price guides list AC as an option. And yes, the car had enough power for AC, don't be silly. My 77 Accord made 68 hp also, weighed more, had factory AC and could run at 75 or more with the unit on - which was radar bait in the era of 55 mph limits.
Small economy cars back in the day just look right. The ones they made in the 2010s just looked off. I think that's why partially people stopped buying them. All the other cars segments went up in features, materials, and quality. While every subcompact was stuck with this awful cheap plastic and cheap looks. The last gen Fiesta looked fairly good to me. Doesn't seem like it was very reliable however.
We Europeans were only offered a 950cc or 1100cc Valencia engine or the 1300cc Crossflow. For the final two years of production 1980-82 you could get an XR2 (sport version) with the US 1600cc Crossflow. Great video. Thanks for sharing. 👍 Some pics I took of UK ones at a show I attended. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-04oFrjDDnS4.html
I don’t know if this is legitimate fact or not so don’t quote me, but I was told that this Fiesta did not make enough power to support air conditioning. That it was barely powerful enough to hang with traffic on the US Interstate system (specifically in areas with hills) Story was told to was that when Ford was testing these Fiestas in the US one was being tested on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that was equipped with A/C, and when it was turned on it could hardly stay above 40 mph on a very slight incline grade and was almost rear ended by a semi truck. So to avoid potential lawsuits Ford just decided against giving these A/C at all. Again, not sure if this is actually true, but it very well could be as these are PAINFULLY slow on anything that even remotely resembles a hill lol Still love these little gems and they were great around town, but definitely not a good choice for highway travel lol
Never an option on any European Mk1’s but I do remember seeing a US spec one with what looked to be a factory fit A/C writing. The US spec ones all have writing such as horn where the Euro ones have symbols. I would love to get mine fitted with US spec heater panel. Looks awesome.👍
Many cars were like that. AC compressors used to be massive and require double digit horsepower to spin. Even in my '01 Sable with 200hp it was noticeably slower with the AC compressor engaged. Emissions-choked engines of the 70s were lucky to break triple digit horsepower. 60hp was pretty standard for a little economy car like this. Air conditioning was still considered a luxury feature in the 70s, it wasn't until the 90s that it really became standard across the board because years of development made it cheap enough.
Your Sable was a V6 in the 2000’s. I remember hearing and feeling the idle drop in big V8 cars in the 80’s when the compressor cycled on. However there were plenty of small cars with A/C back then. My guess would be since the Fiesta is imported from the European market, it’s cooling system was never designed for the extra load of A/C. Being a cheap economy car it was probably never designed to have A/C; like you said it was a luxury option in the 70’s. Doesn’t get that hot in Europe.
@@khakiswag that’s a good point about the cooling system. I’ve not had this generation of Fiesta to know if there was much room for a larger radiator, but I do have a 2016 Fiesta lol And yes, you can definitely tell when the A/C compressor kicks on. It’s a dog when the compressor is engaged lol (It’s ironically a 1.6 inline 4 just like this good old one. Much different 1.6 but I do find it interesting that decades apart and still use a similar sized engine lol)
Ha ha, crash safety, what a joke. Did you notice how thin those doors are. I drove my fiesta for years, my first decent car. Midnight blue, but it looked like black. I found a mail-order company selling racing components for the fiesta. Picked up a little header , a big carburetor, big wheels 13 inch rims with a 60 profile tire and some other cool stuff. I must have been getting almost 90 hp out of her. Damn thing started rusting really bad and the charging system stopped working. In hindsight I should have found a rust free body and switched everything over.
I almost bought this car when new in 1978. I decided do get the 1978 Chevrolet Chevette!! Junk car! Anyone with brains in that year, should have gotten the famous VW Rabbit, which was a groundbreaking car.
You should review this car as a European car. Yes it isn't American and was never meant to be one. Over in Europe people actually live kinda different and more simple. Not everything needs to be big
I really really cant stand the idiotic BFB test quirk... Its so stupid... And cars like this emphasize its stupidity... Car has no cupholders at all... "Failed" BFB test... Point being? Regarding the car... Its very different than the European version of those... For some reason its front reminds me the 1st gen of Reliant Robin...
@@ShootingCars Zack you are doing awesome reviews, and you stick to a certain structure of a review, which is also awesome... However, you should consider changing some of it a bit... The BFB test is ughhhh (a non-adjustable cupholder which can hold this bottle, wont be able to hold regular drinks properly, so it will be useless in real life and at least apply it only to appropriate vehicles), "i am super excited to" catch phrase for example is also kinda ughhh... Apply it at least only to really exciting cars... Like adjust the structure of the review a tad so that it will fit different cars... Also another lil thing you might want to pay attention to a bit is "i do have my..." sentence structure... It has a bit of an ear-sting if it is repeated multiple times in one review... And one more thing, you don't have to repeat the exact model name and the mfg year of the vehicle between each part of the review... No real sense in it and again kinda sound weird after its repeated a few times in the same review...
@@BenyKorenberg I feel bad that you're being forced to watch Zach's videos where he does things his way. You can always start your own channel, he's made several videos about how he built his from nothing that you can use for advice.
Back in the day we got our sodapop in a bottle with screw cap and just stuck it in whatever nook we could find. Oh and we walked half a mile to school each day uphill each way. True story.
