Here’s how the Ford Festiva aspired to be more than just a cheap little car 

i love the fact that you go into detail about old forgotten cars, i much rather watch videos like this over super cars

I owned two of these. My first one was an 88 carbureted one and the second one was a 94 fuel injected model. They were the best cars I owned. Very reliable. Cheap on gas. Wear and tear parts were cheap to buy. And they were quite peppy for what they were.

i believe this cheap little thing was actually one of Ford's most reliable cars. I have seen these things last a long time.

I think that the Aspire is so forgotten that it deserves an episode, oh yeah and the Chevy Citation,and the Fiat Models that were sold in the U.S

I loved my 1990 Ford Festiva L-plus that ny grandmother bought for me brand new. It was fun, could be parked anywhere, had great gas milage, and it was the perfect size for a 16 yeard-old high school junior. Since my Festiva was an L-plus, it came standard with an AM/FM stero, rear defroster, tachometer, and an upgraded interior door trim. The only two options were air conditioning and an automatic transmission. It stickered for $7,850. It was surprisingly roomy. Even my mom commented that it reminded her of her old Volkswagen Beetle--small on the outside, but big on the inside. It also had tons of cargo room with the one-piece backseat folded and flipped, though you couldn't put the front seats all the way back if you did that. You could only go about halfway back...odd. The power steering was not needed for that size of a car. I also preferred the black, plastic bumpers over the body colored ones that started in 1991. I could lightly bang my grocery cart against the back bumper and not be bothered by it. I just wished my L-Plus had a 5-spped manual. My mom made me get the 3-speed automatic that sapped what little power the car had. Other than that, it was a joy to own. I miss it very much. I have a 2021 Kia Soul GT-line now and it reminds me a little of my Festiva. Naturally, I love my Soul a lot! Thanks for this video. I greatly appreciate it!!!

I've owned and worked on them at the dealership. These were great little cars, very reliable and good on gas. I was sorry to see them discontinued.

You forgot to mention that the first generation Kia Pride continues to be built in Iran by SAIPA, with numerous variants such as a station wagon and a panel van produced there.

We need a look at the Chevrolet Celebrity/Pontiac 6000/Buick Century/Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera! The 6000STE deserves some recognition!

Love your videos buddy. No matter what car it is, I'm clicking

I had an 88 Festiva. A nurse at work said it “made noise when you shift” and it just needed a quart of ATF. She gave it to me. I swapped a 1.8L BP engine out of a Mazda Protege into it with a small frame T3 turbo out of a junkyard Volvo 850. I did some suspension work along with brakes and tranny. It was a Fastiva!

As a Canuck, I appreciate you noting Canadian market difference in your vids 👍

I have driven a couple of early Festivas and there was one thing I really appreciated about them. I am fairly tall (was about 6ft 4 in back then) and the Festiva had chair hight seats, good leg room and an insane amount of headroom. It was the smallest car that I could get comfortable in.

The Festiva were everywhere in Taiwan where I grew up, also passed my license test in one, really cool to see a vid about it!

WHY CAN'T I UPVOTE THIS MORE THAN ONCE!! I have been searching for another one of these in good condition for years. I found a friend one in great condition and have been lamenting letting him grab it.

I owned a 92 GL when I lived in San Francisco. I could park it between two driveway entrances in my neighborhood where no one else could fit. It was like having my own private parking place. I was also the guy that had to drive because everyone else's car was too big to find parking in the City. Kept it for 16 years with 195,000 + miles on it. I truly miss it.

I would love to see the Dodge/Plymouth Colt in an episode

A Festiva and Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift are on my list of cars I'd love to own. 20 years from now I don't think any will be around in any type of decent/running condition.

I remember walking onto a Ford dealership's lot with my dad in 1991, hoping to find a good used car and seeing some new Festivas. I could not believe how small they were. Later my dad said they look like a puppy taking a crap. Haha!

My Uncle bought an Festiva brand new in the early 90's. He lived in OH so it didn't last long. I remember the rear hatch rusted so bad he had to replace it with one from the junk yard. The car was blue, and he hatch was red. I think he ended up junking it in the very early 2000's

I've owned five of these bad boys over the years. Such great little cars. The best of my bunch was a '94 with a 1.8L DOHC from an escort GT bolted to an aspire 5 speed.

Had an 88 Festiva. Paid $500 for it. The air and heat still worked. Bought it in 2006, drove the **** out of it for almost 10 years, finally sold it at the end of 2015. Best little car I ever owned. Always passed emissions tests, got great gas mileage, and it was a 5-speed so I could dog the crud out of it. You couldn't kill that car.

My boss not only owned 2 of the Shoguns, the yellow one pictured and a blue one, but in the winter of 1992, I built an ice racer out of a 1989 Festiva. It ran in the studded tire class. It started with the original motor with a custom intake manifold built locally using 4 Webber carburetors from a 1969 Renault Gordini, then when that motor blew up, found that the 1600 out of a Mazda had the same block dimensions, so fitted that in it. After the race season, at which it was very successful at, my boss licensed it and I drove it in a parking lot slalom race. After the race, we did an impromptu drag race on a deserted stretch of road. He was driving a 5 litre Mustang and I was in the “Snogun”. The rear wheel drive Mustang had the advantage for 2 car lengths, then I stayed right with him. It was a beast! Thanks for the memories.

I owned one of these as a 1994 Kia Pride when I lived in South Korea. It was the 4 door sedan model. With a 5 speed manual transmission and a whopping 800cc engine, I was cruising in style. At the time, gas was $1.25 a litre, so this little sewing machine was great for getting around the peninsula. There are still tonnes of these in the Philippines and other SE Asian countries as they were imported second hand and are easy to repair and maintain when you don't need to worry about snow and ice! Great video as always!

My eyes are totally watering from the odd Festivas..... OMG! That lawnmower version did me in! ;) Great video! I miss my Festiva. I think I had somewhere between a 92-94 model. Way good gas mileage and handling was awesome, especially in the snow with them little pizza cutter tires that would just cut through the snow like it wasn't there. :)

This is my favorite episode! A buddy of mine had one in high school. We called it 'The shoe' in the snow if you shifted too fast it would spin out. Plus in the owners manual it said 'if you have difficulty cresting a hill, try going up in reverse' 🤣🤣🤣🤣

“Ending its run, after only 11 years”… Only 11 years? Actually, that’s a good run for any model. Good or bad.

I work as an insurance adjuster. A few years ago I had a total loss on a 1988 Festiva and the total loss evaluation came in at $89. 🤣

A co-worker had one of these with manual shift -- bought it at 74,000, and was still driving it at 330,000 miles. I doubt they're supposed to last that long..

My dad loved his festiva he called it the "best-iva"

Guys typically swap the 2.0L Kia Sportage engine into the MX6, early 90’s 626 in Europe, the Miata, and of course 323 GTX if you can find one. The 2.0L “FE3” from the Kia Sportage is just as stout if not better than the 4G63

In the early 2000s, there was an area of southern Virginia I drove through (near South Boston I believe) that had the highest concentration of Ford Festivas I had ever seen. Probably not the case anymore.

In 1991 I delivered pizzas for a restaurant that had a fleet of 4 Festivas. Drivers had to fill the tank at the end of the night. I could drive it all night, put on over 100 miles and it cost only $5 to top it off. They fired me after I was caught popping the clutch.

Another great video. My first cars were all from the 70s: 74 Mustang II (sold before I turned 16), 71 Dodge Demon (borrowed from an older brother), 75 Mercury Monarch (POS), 79 Ford Fairmont Futura (also a POS). My first 80s car was an 84 Dodge Colt 3-door. Learned to drive a manual transmission on this fun to drive car.

I like the videos. Especially with the ginger billy and cowboy car crushing plugs. Those guys are great. May I suggest doing a video on the Pontiac 6000, chevy celebrity, Buick lesabre, and olds 88.

Almost died in a 1999 Aspire when I was a lot tech transporting one from Portland Oregon to Gresham Oregon. I will never forget that wild 360 degree spin on the i84 interstate avoiding another car that cut me off....

I had 2 of these back in the day, far from being my favorite cars they were arguably the best cars I ever had, great gas mileage and besides a tire or two never a repair cost

These were underrated cars. They somehow were spacious on the inside. The Aspire, that thing aspired to be a real car.

I bought one of these new in 1990. $6000 out the door. I drove it for almost 10 years all over God's half acre. Very good on gas and very reliable. I still remember it fondly!

A friend of mine had a 1991 or 1992 Festiva LX in black with white hubcaps and he put cow print seat covers over the front seats. The back seat was mostly folded down to accommodate his dalmation and sub woofer. Reminds me of fun time we all had when we were young with our first cars and carefree lifestyles. lol

One of my friends had a Festiva and yes, the ride was rough and the stick shift was definitely jerky. That one Ford strategy did contribute the removal of cars from Ford's line up, but those automatic transmissions in the Fiesta and Focus didn't help either. I still believe if Ford would have used more Mazda engineering in some platforms, their front drive cars would have been better.

I had a ‘93 Festiva. It was very reliable, and great on gas. I lost it when I was “T-boned” going about 5mph, which crushed in the B pilar, and made me think if I had been going 10mph, I may be dead! It literally was an aluminum can on wheels.

I had a 91 GL and a 93 L model both, with the 5 speed manual! Incredibly reliable and most fun you can ever have below the speed limit.

I’m waiting for dodge/Plymouth conquest - Mitsubishi starion episode. I wonder if that evolved to dodge stealth/ Mitsubishi 3000gt

when my mom finally got her first car, it was a Festiva. It was a tough little car ,and had a manual transmission. ❤d that car!! The Shogun was simply AWESOME!

I drove my 88' festiva from Pittsburgh to LA and back no problem .. loved driving that car!

I had a 1990 Ford Festiva that I bought brand new off the showroom floor after being involved in a 25 car pileup on I-75 north of Flint, Michigan. That day there were pile ups up and down I-75. It was in February 1990. My first day of vacation. The next day, my Dad drove 175 miles to pick me up and look for a car. We went to the Ford dealership I test drove a Festiva and told the salesman I wanted one. I told them what I wanted as far as options. I did the paperwork and asked the guy to call me when everything was ready for me to sign after they got financing. He said you’re going to need a car on vacation, so I could take a car they had on the showroom floor. I said that I was going up north and would probably put over 500 miles on the car. He said that was fine. So I took the car. Put 750 miles on it. I signed the paperwork and left. I had a manual transmission, a very nice am/fm radio with cassette, speakers in the door speakers in the back where there would be doors if it was a sedan, but Festivas were a coupe with a hatchback. It was white with a nice 3 color stripe on it. I did stripes for a couple of dealerships and knew the complexity of these stripes as they crossed back on themselves. It wasn’t you average striping job. I used to get lots of compliments on them. I had that car for 16 years. No rust, I had lived in 3 states and put 310,000 miles on it it. I changed my oil every 3000 miles and did normal preventive maintenance. Never had to replace the clutch, never had to replace the engine or have it rebuilt. When I bought it from I got 45 mpg on the highway 38 in town and with 310,000 it was still getting the same mpg. I sold the car to a friend who only putt about 25,00 miles on it. Then it was sold to someone else. I would see it on the road once in a while. I followed it into the grocery store one day about 5 years after my friend sold it. It had 550,000 + miles on it and still going strong. A little rust on the bottom of the hatchback. It was an amazing car. My parents had seen a decent used 1992 Olds 88 Royale that was loaded. It had 175,000 miles on it. No cassette as someone had put a new system in with a cd. It had cold air which the Festiva didn’t have. The Festiva had front doors with regular windows, the back the windows popped out and I had a sunroof put in that could either be popped up or put in a carrier and stored in the back. It gave lots of hot air ona 95 degree hot and humid day, but an 80 degree day could be quite nice. I loved my Festiva. My friends were always shocked at how much room the car had in it. The front and the back had lots of room. I am 6’1” 250, pounds and I was comfortable in the front, but I rode a couple of times when my boyfriend drove and we were picking up a friend. It was a great, little-big car. I loved it, but the olds was in good shape and had sGM 3800 engine in it that I knew had a lot more miles to go. I loved my Festiva and have many memories of it. One of the best was one day I was coming home from my parents and running late on my way to work. I was in a two lane. I was going 80 mph and passed a state police cruiser on the side of the road. He pulled me over had me pop the hood and had me get out of the car. I opened the hood and he said my wash Maxine has a bigger motor but it won’t do 90. I noticed his name and asked if his dad was Charlie, yep, uncle name, yep. My dad was an electrical contractor and the cop had worked for my dad. At an early time both his dad and uncle had worked for my dad. I lucked out and got a warning. I had been sweating bad until I saw his name.😂

Love those videos, and really Like the fact that your microphone quality improved! Keep up great work!

Love it! The Aspire was the only car I ever bought brand new. I think it was 10k OTD. My sister had a Fiesta, my other sister a Tracer, and later when I was low on funds and really needed a car I looked at an $800 Festiva. Ended up getting a Hyundai Accent.

Oh man… I missed these late 80s and early 90s car. My father used to drive this one 4 door, Pontiac 6000STE 4 door, and Grand Am Turbo 4 door back in Taiwan around that time.

I remember the red one in Suburban Commando! We had them here in the UK as the Kia Pride and the Mazda 121 but you never see them anymore. Great video!

2:22 “we wanted a dependable f*ckin car” lmaoo

I loved my '89 LX. I gave it to a friend in 1999 and it still runs today!

I forgot about the Festiva!! Great video!! I love your channel!!

In 1990...My little league coach had a blue stick shift Festiva & he used to pick us all up if we couldn't get to the game and many times we had the team in that little car SERIOUSLY ALL 9 PLAYERS FIT IN A FORD FESTIVA!!! WE WERE 10 & 11 YEARS OLD!! I Wish I had a picture of that!! The Good Ol' Days!!

You mentioned the Chevy Sprint, I had quite forgotten that car. When I was a kid, our elderly neighbor bought one and raved about it until she backed out of the garage one day and it caught fire. By the time the fire department got there, it was consumed by fire and there was almost nothing left. I thought it was pretty cool, and added a little excitement to our suburban life!

My old grade 4 teacher had one of these cars, hers was a 94'/95' Aspire 3-door. Hers was red and I believe had seats that had either coloured lines or triangles in blue, red, & green. She drove it up until last year, when she upgraded and got a 2020 Honda Fit EX in medium blue 😌

Similar to the Aspire, my 1993 Geo Metro, 4dr hatchback with a 5spd manual transmission. To realize how that 60hp teal colored marvel allowed me to cross the Green Mountains of Vermont to college in Upstate NY each semester floors me.

You mention in the video that the Aspire is an improvement over the Festiva. It probably has more safety features, but in the forums I follow, the Festiva seems a lot more loved than the Aspire. The Festiva is certainly a lot better looking in my opinion.

I got one for a future episode: The GMC Safari/Chevy Astro Van, 1985-2005(?). My Dad had a 1987 GMC Safari in Silver with gray interior. We took a few vacations in that van to Northern Michigan and went lots of places in it. It was a whole lot better then the horribly unreliable 1980 Chevy Monte Carlo he had prior to it.

My Dad's older brother had a 4 Door Aspire from 1997-1999 then bought a Kia Sephia that lasted a year until it died. My mom's younger sister had a Festiva in the late 90s but then got rid of it for a Focus.

My Dad almost bought one of these! Before that, he owned a Yugo. I'd love to see a video about the Yugo!

We had a Ford Festiva as a hire car for a weekend while we were in Aus in the mid 1990s. Performance wise, lets just say keeping to speed limits wasn't a problem!

In the UK we got the Mazda 121 and later when it was replaced by a new 121 we got the Kia pride. The mazda was available with a 1.1 and 1.3 engine. The 95 fiesta was also available as a Mazda 121 in the UK.

The SHOgun is the ultimate sleeper car. Leno's story about kids making fun of it for having large rear wheel tires in a front wheel drive car, then getting torched... classic.

My pop has a 96 Ford Aspire, four door, that we lovingly refer to as the Aspirate. Driving it reminds me of my first car, a four door 88 Mercury Tracer.

I learned to drive on a Festiva! My mom wasn't a Ford fan but had previously owned a 70's era Mazda 616 so felt good about the fact it had some Mazda DNA and was a cheap car back when money was tight. 1992 LX with the manual transmission: bright blue, body coloured bumpers and power mirrors and a rear wiper were the add ons when going from L to LX in Canada. I think it had "premium" fabric too and a tape deck that the factory supplied a cassette "Ford: Sounds of the 80s" LOL The car was pretty dependable and ran for over 12 years and 260000 km with the only annoying issue of needing new bearings in the rear wheels more frequently that one would expect. Sadly a errant construction sign kicked up from the car ahead bounced and lodged under the front wheels and caused some damage that then caused frequent maintenance and she replaced it with a 2004 Mazda 3 Sport GT (back to Mazda,hey).

My Festiva was the most reliable car I had ever owned. It was a blast to drive, as long as you ignored the doors that shook at 65 mph. People LOVED my red Festiva, regardless of where i took it. In fact, my classic story is when I went to an extremely expensive restaurant for dinner as I owed a friend a dinner for getting me this major contract. The car was valeted. When I came out, there standing IN FRONT of all the Mercedes, Jaguars, BMWs and such was my Festiva. The valets put the car in the premiere space the whole time. Hilarious. The Aspire, while more sophisticated, was boring as hell and not a worthy replacement.

A box of mine has one as a second car and she let me drive it a few times and man it was more fun to drive than you’d think they’d be! Great little car!

My dad had an 88 Ford Festiva lady got from my great-aunt when she decided to upgrade to a Corolla. Interesting-looking car when you put a canoe on top of it.

My friend's dad would pick us up from football practice in his yellow Ford Fiesta in the early 80's- and to make us all feel a little older- his dad was a typewriter repair man and always had one or more in the hatch! lol

There is more to the Festiva. In 1993 the Korean version (Pride) was sent to Iran and the Iranian company "Saipa" kept on producing them with really small changes until 2020. They made several versions of them under different names. Pride, Saba, Saipa 111 (hatchback), Saipa 131(sedan),Saipa 132(another sedan), Saipa 141(another sedan) and Saipa 151 (pickup).

My friends sister had a early 90s Ford Aspire, the car was a total tin can but it got here to where she was going. My other friend always used to make fun of it and all call it "The Ford Expire" .

I have a friend who drives a blue first-Gen Festiva. I have a 2019 Fiesta in the same color, it’s fun to park them next to each other!

I had a coworker that had one of these. She gave me a ride and I was really impressed with it.

Bought a Festiva new in 1991. It finally died in 2004 150,000 miles. Very few issues and great in the snow.

Thanks for the mention in the video! 0:45

Love these cars! Man I'm so glad I found your channel.

It’s a shame it didn’t last I actually had one for about a year and I really loved it

Fiesta's last year in the US was 2019. We have 2 of them and they are pretty awesome. You probably won't do a dedicated episode on the Fiesta so I thought I'd mention it here.

Been waiting for this one all day! Great channel Sir.... See ya next time

My dad owned one. Put 280,000 miles on it before selling it to my cousin. He put another 60k before it finally gave out. Damn near 45 mpg with the 1.3 liter 5 speed manual.

The fuel injection did improve performance. It added 5 more horsepower. The carbureted version was rated at 58 HP while the multi-port fuel injection version was rated at 63 hp. My brother had the carbureted 89 model and I had the 93 model, the last year they were sold in the US, which was replaced by the Aspire in 94. Different body, same drivetrain.

I owned a 1997 Ford Aspire 3-door from July 2009 - June 2013. I purchased it for $850, with 131,950 on the odometer. I called it, "The Egg." It was an excellent little car! It got me through my last couple of undergrad years of college, and after. Unfortunately, the car caught fire in June 2013 after a mechanic mishandled the engine and crankshaft while replacing the clutch, and was declared a total loss by my insurance company. I replaced it with a 2008 Mitsubishi Eclipse. Today, I have a 2020 Kia Forte GT. I still miss my Aspire.

We had a red 89 Festiva (4spd manual), purchased it for $300 used, only needed front brake pads and rotors. Drove it for five years, almost 175K on the odometer before the carb went out. Carb was $500, sold the car to a buddy after that. It wasn't fast, although it would comfortably do 80mph on the highway. But it was fun to zip around town with it.

Can you do an episode on the Chevy Sprint/Geo Metro?

Sold in the UK as the Mazda 121 between 1988 and 1991 and then Kia Pride between 1991 and 2000. We lucky Brits could even get the Pride with whitewall tyres! There was veven an estate/wagon version of the Pride in other markets. I once saw one in Spain. There was a version of the 121 called the "Suntop" which had a large canvas sunroof.

Had a blue Festiva in 2000/2001 and it was honestly the best. I’m now the proud owner of a 2013 Ford Fiesta.

Please do a video on the 79 to 85 Riviera. I love those cars. I've owned 3 different trim levels over the years and still have one.

My girl friend now Wife had a 90" . Took it halfway across Canada , noted to never do that again. Every transport that passed felt like it was going to suck us in ...great little car for around town , and treated us pretty good back then

I am an old man, and have owned over a dozen cars in my life....My first New Car purchase, was a 1990 Ford Festiva L+....$7,000 full price...the salesman was so unexcited about selling such a marginally profitable car, that he was actually rude to me!....but I put up with his attitude...I knew the little car was actually a Mazda product, put together by KIA...So I assumed it was a worthwhile purchase....During the next 6 years I put almost 100,000 miles on it, and it needed nothing but routine maintenance...I averaged 43mpg overall, and it handled well, was kinda fun to drive!...so, I finally traded it in, figuring it likely would break pretty soon...guess what!...an uncle of mine bought the car off a used car lot--I could not believe a relative of mine would wind up with that car!...and he drove that little car another 140,000 miles, before he was in a moderate accident, and junked it....he told me he never had to do any major repairs to the car!...al in all, that car was likely the most reliable and economical car I ever owned...The only downside?....it was certainly a deathtrap, with no airbags, side protection, etc...Considering how most people are driving trucks and SUVs these days, I would never buy another tiny car, considering how squished you might be in a modern car accident!

Fun Fact: the Festiva was being built until last year in Iran as an updated vehicle from the manufacturer SAIPA, which in turn sold the production line to Wallyscar in Tunisia.

1. My Dad has a 1995 KIA Pride GLXi, that thing is un-killable. 2. My Uncle had a Yugo, he took care of it and did proper maintaince, he never had any issues.

This car was produced by SAIPA until just recently (2018 or 2020) in Iran as both a car and a utility truck with a bed named tge Pride. My friends mom had the Ford Fiesta model that had over 250,000 miles and was still driving it in 2018 the last time i talked to him..

My first new car. I had a red one. Got 40 mpg and was easy to park in NYC. 5 speed made it fun because you had to drive all out to keep up with traffic.

Do an episode about the Dodge/Renault 50 series vans!

The 2nd gen Festiva was pretty popular in Australia. I had a friend with the 3 door. The power to weight ratio was good but man was it built to a price. Reliable and cheap on repairs.

They should’ve offered a Rally Sport performance package with a raised suspension, turbocharged in-line four cylinder engine and all-wheel-drive.

My first car was a 1983 Mazda GLC sedan- 5 speed, passenger side mirror, no other options, tan over tan- we affectional called it the tan can from Japan. My dad bought it new and then I got it in 89 when they replaced it with something automatic with A/C. Both my older brother and I learned to drive in that car and it never broke- and we did lots of stupid things. Had people we new then buy new Mazdas in the 90s because they saw how well the one we had took the abuse. I replaced with an 86 Mazda 323 SE hatchback 5 speed with A/C (another great car- actually sporty driving for an economy car). But you really didn't see many of those GLCs even a decade later.

I remember when the Ka came out in Europe and GB. All these years later I still think it was a neat looking car and would have loved to own one, even with the older engine that pulled it around. I wondered why we didn't get sharply styled cars like that here in America, though we did get the Focus. My wife and I owned one, at least until she killed it by rear-ending a van. By comparison, the Festiva and the Aspire were so insipidly dull that they were largely unnoticed in their time. I've long had an affinity for little cars; a neighbor owned a Renault 5 (Le Car) and I've long harbored a want for a Reliant Kitten, though that is another story.

I had a red '91 Festiva with the 5-speed manual.I loved that gearbox because the clutch and gear stick were very light to the touch and easy to shift.I don't think I ever stalled that car.I now drive a red '16 Fiesta which I suppose is kind of a descendant of the Festiva.I think the Festiva had more passenger room than the Fiesta but not as much cargo space.