IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: MK1 Ford Fiesta XR2 

The mk1/ 2 fiesta's were everywhere when I was growing up in the late 80s and 90s . To me they had a very distinctive exhaust note and could tell it was a fiesta coming over the hill before you even saw it.

This is the 3rd time I have watched this now, and I must admit this is your best video to date. Thank you Steph

I used to drive a Mk1 XR2 occasionally. It had a very hard ride and was great fun. Your video brought it all back.

Wow so in-depth, your showing us exactly what most of us want to see... everything!!!! took me back to the great days.... well done girl your awesome 🤘😎🤘

Love your videos and reviews Steph, love the mk1 fiesta, my fav 70s, 80s hatch. Keep up the great work.

loved your video, which brought back memories of a Fiesta in USA back in the early 1980s, really fun car to drive!

One of my favourite cars! I love the variety on the channel!

I only went on 3 family holidays as a child. 2 of those were in a mk1 fiesta so this brings back memories. Another brilliant review on a car from my youth 🙂

Great video. The detailed walk around footage was fantastic, showing lots of interesting details. Especially enjoyable to someone from Australia who has never seen one. Such a shame we didn't get these. Cheers.

Ace video, always love the detail and your presentation style,really lovely XR2

Another nice video Steph. I like the level of detail you go into when looking around the car.

Well done on dipping your toe into other marques Steph, very interesting as always

Taking out my 82 base spec “Popular” for the the first time this year later today.👍

AHH you can't beat a classic Ford Steph! Great review 👌 thanks for the memories.

Never seen this channel before, glad I found it and very knowledgeable, love the classics, thanks.

Great vid steph. The last time I was in a mk1 fiesta I was in the Castle hill pub. I had a silver 1.3 supersport.

Love a clean, genuine, unadulterated XR2!!! Thanks for another great review Steph!!! Great car choice. Lots of love & stay safe darling. xxxxx

Great to see such a lovely XR2. So many were messed about with and ruined. Many thanks Steph.

I owned a Mk1 XR2 same year same colour. Thanks for the video and the memories

Yet another great video Steph. Take care of yourself and stay safe.

Nice video Steph! Always liked the mk1 Fiesta, it looked so fresh and new when it came out. Never driven one though.

Steph this is my favourite car you have reviewed so far , well done thanks 👍

Great video Steph, really enjoyed it!

As a 44 year old male. This is my favourite car you have reviewed so far.

You filmed my all time favourite car round the corner from me!!!! And i missed out big time😭😭😭

Wow what a car always loved 80s fast fords my mate had one of these and I had an mg metro we always had a bit of a race , great review Steph great video keep um coming

Another great video . My favourite car back in the day ! Really liked the fiesta super sport as well

Lovely example, the MK1 XR2 is my fave looking hot Fiesta and that accessories booklet is a real cool historical treasure. Good effort with this review.

Xr2 Crew!! Great video Steph. Rate you for bringing a favourite of mine to the channel.

.....and love watching you drive the classics, incredibly knowledgeable, I collect the old British marques here in Israel .

Love it 😍 I owned one (1989 F reg ) during my time in Plymouth University it in the early nineties. I spent the best years in my youth in Devon and Cornwall . Big cheers from SAEED , Riyadh. XXX

Cool video of a very cool car really enjoyed that steph brilliant x

Great little video. My brother had a C reg (85) Mark 2 in red with those pepper pot wheels. Same as this, really with a slightly updated 1.6 engine of 96 bhp. I remember that he only paid £5K from new, in a deal. Deals came into their own after 1980. Even allowing for inflation it seemed to be great value.

Unbelievably that lovely brown interior made a come back on the mark 4 fiesta. Great review and choice of car as always

Had the 1.3S and loved it. The clock was where the coin tray is on the XR2, it also had quarter lights. A friend that was the year above me at school had XR2 boy it could move! Steph another enthusiastic production!

That's a great video Steph. What a cracking little Fiesta. Beautiful condition. I had a mark 2 Fiesta L as my first car. That was a good little car. The first 2 Fiesta generations I'm really fond of. After that not so much!

Another great video Steph I love the fiesta XR2 especially the Mk2. I drive a Mk6 fiesta Zetec S as my daily which has carried on with the sporty fiestas. I love how original the one in the video is, I hate it when people overly modify them. 😁👍

I had a 1.1 L many years ago, and I don't think I ever bothered with either a 0-60 time, or a top-end! I only did the daily commute in it! :-) Good video though Steph! What would my Sunday be without your beautiful smile? Stay safe! :-)

Great car, I owned PME125X for 10 years and barely covered 100 miles in all that time, Great video it's good to see she's going strong.

Great vid as usual of an iconic car somewhere down the line try the Mk2 version Steph that should blow you away.

Hi there, to be totally honest I've never watched one of your videos before, but it brought a tear to my eye, in the region of 28 years ago i drove a MK 1red XR2 religiously around the exact same roads , today i have to settle for my MK8 ST & MK3 Fiesta turbo, proper Fiesta freak me.

“Old people FM,” made me chuckle. I learned to drive in a MK1 and loved every minute of it. What I wouldn’t have given for an XR2. Happy times.

Stef, you really need to spend a summer in America since we have all sorts crazy old cars here. When I’ve been in the UK I so enjoyed just looking at cars that never made their way across the pond. I love your videos. Keep up the fantastic work. You are charming.

It reminds me of my Mk.1 Austin Metro. Great video.

A friend of mine bought one of these back in the early 80s after someone wrote off his Ford Capri, I was in my late teens and really loved being in this car, cracking handling and quite quick back then, many a good night spent driving around our local sea side town, happy days.

Hi steph hope you are well you should be on tv doing your reviews got to be better than the endless repeats on hope you and the family are all well . Always come across as a nice down to earth person x

I had one. Bought it in Feb 1985 with 8000 miles on it.....Black like this one. Kept it for 3 years. Loved it...and have many happy memories of it.

Steph, beautiful example. Great to see you reviewing such a wide range of cars. I must say, you presentation skills get better and better. Always well researched, this comes through every time. Would be fantastic if you and josh did a livestream sometime. I hope you’re keeping safe and well, take care. Thanks again for all your hard work in putting these reviews together for us,.

There was always a few squalling around the large council estate where I grew up in the late 80s, proper young chaps motor. Cheers for the post.

What a cracking Video Steph, my dad had a mark 2 Popular Plus fiesta so I remember the ashtray in the rear !! Apparently the XR name was plucked out the air and according to Richard Parry Jones who was at ford at the time it was mentioned that XR stood for Xtra racing! The main thing was the number which was was to allow for a bigger or lower number in the Ford range as the XR3 came first then you had the XR2 and the XR4i in the Sierra.

Awesome looking car. I remember when we had the Mk1 Ford Fiesta here in the USA. For some reason it didn't sell very well and was discontinued after 1980 or 81.

Beautiful looking car. Ford nailed the 80s. Great find and video.

I had an A reg in red, first hot hatch I ever owned. I had to do a RU-vid search for this one. Great video, consider me subscribed

Got my XR2 new in 1982 ( red ) still have it in my garage - in great condition - this video makes me want to take it out --- lovely car full of character

Gotta to love a bouncy rev counter. I've noticed it's got the MK2 XR2 exhaust which makes it sound more hollow opposed to the original exhaust which had an extra backbox.

Owned one decades ago as a family run around...loved this car never let us down got the job done and fun to drive up there with my Mini Cooper.

I love the big Rally Lights on the grill. It's a beauty!!

I remember when they did one of these on Wheeler Dealers, Edd China did his wizardry and changed the fulcrum point of the gear linkages to make it a short shift and made the 0-60 time a little faster than out of the factory.

Takes me back to my youth... I only had a mk2 1.1L. Ghia though lol. This one is in good condition for its age. Love the period tax disc and window stickers. Nice classic :)

My auntie was a cleaner at a Ford dealership in 1976, & she brought home two customer goody bags for me and my sister. It was full of badges, posters, glossy brochures, etc.

One of my fav cars ever, love to get hold of one now. 👍👍

Great review, wish I never sold mine in back 2002. I still have a mk1, 1.1 finesse though.

'We've got Queen...not my favourite...' HANG ON. STEPH. WE NEED WORDS. xD For real though, lovely video - and you're genuinely pushing me towards the possibility of owning a classic or vintage car as a first car! Maybe an 80s or early 90s Japanese car, not sure yet, but I've just wanted something quirky and interesting that I can work on myself if that makes sense? So thank you!

What a great car! My neighbour used to have one of the first XR2i (think it was a B-reg) Awesome test and drive Steph. I so much prefer older Fiestas

Would love to see you reviewing a ford fiesta mk3! I have just bought one and would love to see you review one!😊😊

A friend of mine had one of these from new. I was a bit envious even though I had an Escort 1.6 GL hatch because I needed the extra space to put bikes in the back. I love the wheels on these. Quite distinctive.

I really want to own one of these in the next few years, hopefully I can, they look great and sound so good😃

As a 50 year old man anything with XR or RS in front of it's name will get my attention. So great to see the MK1 childhood going bananas here. I do love the Morris/Leyland stuff too. Always a pleasure 😘

Had one of these back in the day and it was a terrific little car 😀👍

I had a mk4 Escort with the clock above the mirror, always out of the sun. Soon get used to it and missed it being there on later models. Late 80s and early 90s were good years for Ford.

My first car was a mark one xr2 and I even had a mark 2 xr2 great cars I loved them

Nice video ! Thanks !

Nice video Steph. Would love to see an MG Maestro roadtest in comparison !. Nice location/ scenery too

I was working for a Ford Dealer when the XR2 was launched and it sold really well. Exciting times, thanks Steph for bringing the memories flooding back. You wanted one of the jackets in the accessory catalogue, I’m sure that if someone launched a retro rally jacket range that they would sell well.

I drove one in Tel Aviv as a rental years ago, very sprinty and a lot of fun!

It's very nice to see a stock MK1 Fiesta XR2.

Had one of these just like that in the late 90s Great car!

Beautiful condition , stunning in fact . Pepperpot wheels ❤️ I remember my uncle Bill bought a brand new MkI when they came out. I think by the time the XR2 launched he was driving a Talbot Horizon or a Samba 😊

Sunday morning coffee with your latest video , great ! Out of interest I've just added intermmitent wipers to my Morris minor, really easy to do and only cost around £15 plus a switch and some wire.

Another awesome video.

I remember my boss buying a brand new one exactly the same as this and him taking us out in it and doing 100 mph we thought it was a flying machine back then it was brilliant 👍

Great video and a great car. Owner of a 1.3 Ghia, fully restored and fitted with a standard Xr2 exhaust. Gets way too much attention and it's not even an XR haha

Mk1/2 Fiestas are a hoot to drive, lots of memories

I drove and looked after loads of these and all the other fiestas when I worked in car rental in the West End. I had to bring one back from Germany. First time I'd even been abroad let alone drive there.

I had a beautiful low mileage mk 1 xr2 in Caspian blue ! My sister and her boyfriend was second owner from new ! Sold it for like 600 quid in 2001 ! Was worthless then ! Dam I wish kept it ! Reg was AAY 699Y doubt it still around a Great video !

Another one of my favorites I had the sports special

A true icon. I'm not a Ford fan but there's something about the XR2 that really clicks. I would still rather have the MG Metro Turbo myself. Thanks Steph, Nice one.

Great video lots of detail

another informative video. only thing i would have liked was a takeoff from a standing start. that pocket rocket wants to go! anyway good job. always liked mk. 1 fiestas, remember when they first debuted in the states.

I had 4 MK1 fiestas when I first started driving... 1) 950Ccc rust bucket 2)1.1 slightly less rusty (went all over the UK, used to foul one plug after every 1K miles so carried a plug spanner and wire brush with me) 3)1.3 super sport (loved that thing) 4) Fully restored (bare metal body shell strip down and build up again) XR2 with 1740 fully balanced and lightened engine (approx 120-130HP) slightly lowered and uprated suspension, that little thing was as quick as hell until I put it backwards into a telegraph pole at a speed I should never have walked away from! Loved those little things!

Absolutely beautiful example😎 my friend Damien had several of these in the early 90s, such fun cars tho my old worn MK2 key was capable of starting his MK1 with a bit of shaking, not ideal security wise! Thank you for addressing the start of the hot hatch era Steph, the lads few years above us before we drove always looked to the Capri's MK2 escorts and chevettes etc whereas we were seeing the hot hatch adverts on TV and they were all we drooled over before we could get driving, all we hankered after were the xr2s the golf gti's the R5 turbo's 205 gti's SR novas etc. Yes we still loved the older stuff but every one of us craved owning a hot hatch. I've never ventured away from the hot hatch vibe having started with a MK1 GTi golf after some clown wrote my MK2 1.1 Ghia fiesta off in a MK3 fiesta haha, the insurance claim started my golf addiction so every cloud as they say! More hot hatch stuff Steph he hinted👍💯😂 that was a nice area you were driving thru too😎

Stunning

Lovely looking in there day,not seen one on the road for yrs,,,

I remember while at work a customer had a brand new fiesta in bright green. One of the old boy's I worked with had a look round it, shook his head and said - - - What will they think of next ! He was in his seventies then so must have looked like a space craft to him.

The Mk1 still looks great than todays fiestas! 🙂🙏🏽

The Ronco Stop Thief sticker CRACKING me up

I had a mk2 XR2 on an F plate brand new in Aug 1988 crystal blue with the x pack sunroof ect,great car with a 1.6 engine great memories.

Beautiful example! 1600 crossflow these Mk1 aren’t they? I had an MG Metro, was not a patch on the XR2. Just looks so good!

The column stalks were actually carried over from the mk2 Escort, or rather developed simultaneously, since both were released in '76. Hence the extra stalk on the right for the lighting, and the horn positioned on the indicator stalk instead of on the wheel.

The wheel design is phenomenal