I bought this car in 1978. It was my first new car. $ 97.99 bucks a month with Loan from Wells Fargo. I remember the finance mgr said pay this note on time and you'll be fine . Never forget that comment.
I had a used 1980 Fiesta in Lime green or what ever color it was. I put black racing stripes on it and my wife called it the "Racing Lime". It was one of my favorite cars that I ever owned. I got it with 40,000 miles and had to get rid of it at 264,000 miles because it could no longer pass inspection with the floor rusted out. I sadly drove it to the junk yard. Months later I saw an Orange colored Fiesta with a lime green driver's door with black pin stripes and body side molding. That was my Fiesta's door on that car. Part of my car still lived.
…And those snow tires were a P145/80R12 Michelin XZX. Unbelievably small. My dad bought a 1979 Fiesta and used it as his ice fishing vehicle since the FWD had such great traction. I took my driver’s license test in it in 1984 (never mind the parking brake didn’t work) and traded it in 1991. Parts were getting hard to come by at that time. I can’t imagine keeping one running 30 years later.
I had the privilege of being part of the Ford leadership team at the Fiesta US product launch It was truly one of the highlights of my Ford career. I had 2 'S's' as company vehicles. They were more fun than a box of puppies! I could go on and on but I'll stop. If you're interested, we can pursue more off line. John
I had a used fiesta, in 1988 I drove it from Minneapolis to San Diego pulling a motorcycle, through a blizzard in the mountains. When I got back to minnesota, I rolled it in a ditch and it kept on going. One of the best cars I ever had.
That shite is hot. I couldn’t help but imagine the matador in the Fiesta commercial shown in this video rolling away from your Fiesta with his cape as your Fiesta rolled over and landed on its wheels, only to continue on…
My late father worked at Ford’s Design & Engineering Centre at Dunton in the U.K. from the 1960’s to the early 1980’s. I think it’s now called Dunton Campus. He did a lot of electrical design work for Ford ~ I’ve still got a load of his patents at home. Anyway. The Fiesta. One day he was later back from work than usual, so it was dark. He said to us to come outside and look at what he’d brought home. It was one of the Fiesta prototypes, well in advance of this very important car going into production. His own company car was in for service so he was told he could take the Fiesta as long as it was dark when he left and he had to get it back to Dunton early next morning, around 7a.m. if memory serves. There was obviously no such thing as the internet back then, so this is what passed for secrecy! I can’t remember much about it other than the fact it was so different to the Corsair Estates he used to get each year. It was the first fwd car I’d been in so it was unusual to sit in the back and not have the usual tunnel for the prop shaft in the floor. It was certainly nippy and seemed to handle well. He must have liked the car as he bought several over the years, indeed the last car he ever bought was the then latest version.
Had a 1980 Fiesta. Super fun to drive. Reliable and economical. One of my favorite cars I ever owned. It had 180,000 miles on it when I sold it. A lot of miles for a car in that era.
We had a 1980 S. It went through five family members, two of which learned to drive manual in it. A remarkable car in terms of drivability, fun to drive and dependability.
I had several of these in the 80's. Set up one for autocrossing. The 1.6 Kent is the same engine used in formula ford racing, so tons of hot rod parts available. Even in stock form they were fun to drive, and great gas mileage. Girl friend at the time had 2 of them, drove them both ito the ground with over 150,000 miles.
Those German Fiestas were absolutely fabulous as wrong wheel drive cars go. Simple, perky, and economical. I haven't seen one since the turn of the century.
As a mid 40s international car guy, I used to see the Fiesta (and Capri) regularly in Europe over the years but never to this day have ever seen any in the U.S. I didn't even know they were available here. Thank you for what you do keep em coming 👍
The early Fiestas are now collectors cars here in England. A Mark 1 XR3 would be worth about £10K which is about $14K. I have a 1983 early mark 2 with the 1100 engine and it was expensively restored last year using genuine Ford repair panels which took an age to get together!
I was a young teenager when they came out. It was so different and small was a new concept for us in the US. I even got a brochure and would daydream having one. Thank you for bringing back old memories
I bought a 1978 Fiesta in 1982 for $1,200. Drove it for 3 years only replacing a muffler and tires. It was the last carbureted engine that I owned. Great city car!
My brother had a 79 Fiesta, i had a 76 Capri Ghia. Both were fun cars and of course we modded them. The reason you're still seeing so many of the little buggers around is they were made from thicker German Sheet, they had more experience with winter weather corrosion that the later Japanese imports.
I owned four of these, and would like to have another now as a collectible. My 2nd one was a S model with factory a/c. The a/c was pretty weak; would not recommend. You got the facts right once again. I even learned something: did not know Tjaarda had a hand in the design. My first car was a Fiat 124 spider, so I'm obviously a fan. How great he did two of my favorite cars!
I had used one in about 1980 it was a fantastic car, excellent in the snow and great gas mileage to offset my v8 truck. In the late eighties I bought a new Omni, also an excellent and cheap to keep commuter for my 80 mile round trip to work from the Colorado mountains to Stapleton International Airport before it was moved to DIA.
In 1978, I traded my 1971 Mustang sportsroof, 351 Cleveland 4bbl, 4 speed, after all the money I spent modifying it. It got about 8 miles per gallon. My orange fiesta was a great car. 4 new tires for $100.
Haven't seen one in South Dakota for many years, but rust might have got them. Only one Chevette recently in Minnesota. No Vegas, no Pintos, no old Hondas either. That first Civic was cute.
The 1980 model I had was bombproof. I paid 200$ for it drove it 3 years or so. Put nothing but gas and changes in it sold for 200$. The car had over 200,000 miles. Before I bought it it had been rolled over, totalled by the insurance company. The guy cut the roof off welded on another roof section from a junkyard car,put new glass in it and sold it to me. The guy that bought it from drove it to Florida from Virginia I think 6 times before the engine finally let go .
Family had two (2!) Fiestas back in the day, both ‘78. Brother had the fancier one with sun roof (and came with a moon roof panel) and dealer-installed A/C. Was a basic car, but that’s what made the driving experience great. Rack and pinion non-power steering, manual 4-speed (dad’s commuter car and the other may have had a 5speed?). The steering wheel was cantered towards the center of the car; a little awkward. Was a fighter in the snow, especially pulling up hills. But major torque steer and wrestling with the steering on Pennsylvania potholed roads. The rear wheel drum brakes were “upside down” and water would collect and rust them. Fun car for a young driver!
Ford & all the other Big 3 need to have a cheap 🥜 minimalistic car in their catalogues. The recession/depression going on is not compatible with 80 to 100K$ vehicles anymore. The middle class is being wiped out & the party is over. 🚗 will always come after shelter + utilities + food.
I worked at a Ford dealer in Belleville, Michigan as a Porter in 1980. I remember the German Ford fiestas that we had. They were very fun to drive, but the batteries would always go dead on them.
@@nlpnt I did that with half of the first gen 6 cylinder Mustangs I owned in the 80's. Mostly because I didn't have the $$ to buy a new battery. The smart play was to park uphill.
My brother had a 1980. It was white with the sport trim on the sides. I drove from Westchester down to Brooklyn a couple of times. It was a really fun car to drive and was easy to maneuver in NYC traffic. They also had excellent visibility.
I had a couple of used Fiestas after I graduated from college in the mid-80's. LOVED that car. I could park it anywhere in Boston, the engine was very similar to a Formula Ford engine and it was a hoot to drive. It was very much a "slow car that was fun to drive fast". It was also cheap to maintain and fairly easy to work on (as long as you weren't replacing the water pump). I still smile whenever think of them.
For some odd reason I love the Fiesta . My second job they had a yellow one that they used for making deliveries and I couldn't drive it cus at that time i didn't know how to drive a manual , and my boss was not going to buy the gas for my 1976 Ford Elite with a 351 v8 .
I had a gold ‘78 base model that I bought in ‘81 as a young Marine at Lejeune. I drove it also around there delivering pizzas for Domino’s on weekends. Good, bare bones little car.
We had one of these 40 years ago, after our ‘74 Civic was obliterated in a wreck. It was an orange ‘78, a base model with a 4-speed manual. I don’t remember too much about it, as I wasn’t even 3 years old yet when we had that crash, except there was one time, when I was around 7 or 8, I was watching Back to the Future and my dad had to pick my mom up after our other car, an ‘81 Escort L wagon, decided to break down. In the spirit of Doc Brown, my dad attempted to take it up to 88 mph, and yeah, we saw some serious shit, if by that you meant jaw-rattling shaking. Lack of flux capacitor notwithstanding, I don’t think it even made it up to time-traveling speed, now that I think about it for more than a couple of seconds.
I learned to drive on my dad's 78 Fiesta in 1979. Many great memories, which ended when I totaled it in 1982. It really did get mid-40s mpg on the highway.
This was my first car. A 1979. I bought it in 1984. I owned it for several years. Pretty gutsy and fun to drive. And it always started in some pretty cold Iowa and Michigan winters. Finally sold it to a neighbor in the early 90’s. Great car. Very reliable. Sure glad I was never in an accident with it though. And I had to find a piece of sheet metal to cover up the hole in the floor!
I have always been intrigued as to why round sealed beam headlights were mandatory for so many American market cars, as they spoilt the look of many of them. Can you maybe do a video on this? I’m from Australia and have always wanted to know why this was the case. Thank you.
There were laws passed in the U.S. that date back to 1940 requiring the use of sealed beam headlamps. This was done to control chaotic supply problems with unusual headlights. These laws were updated over the years but for a majority of the mid 20th century there were only 4 bulb designs that were legal to use in U.S. A 1975 update allowed the use of rectangular headlamps and finally in 1984 composite headlamps were approved. I actually like the look of round headlamps as they look classic to me but that could be because I'm from the U.S.
I had a 1978 Fiesta with a 1.6 and 4 speed. I bought it in 1987 for $400. It was in rough shape when I got it and it was in rougher shape when I gave it away in 1992. I LOVED THAT CAR! It was hilariously fun to drive and it was reliable as hell. I never had to walk away from it. It was so nimble. But talk about cheap - no radio, no rear window wiper, no a/c, and not even a glovebox cover. I smiled every time I got into that thing. Weird, huh?
I love these videos Tony, you bring back memories. Never owned a fiesta but I own two escorts that were built in the 1980s. From a looks perspective I think the fiesta's look better than the escort. The escort's were great cars for someone on a budget and drove good in the snow. The only thing they should have changed from the factory was the fuel filter near the engine was only as big as your thumb and kept getting stopped up so I had to install a bigger filter under the car below the passenger seat.
In '89 I bought a '79 Ford Fiesta as my first car. It was $600 and ran fine. I was restoring a '65 Mustang and knowing that would take years, I had to have something to drive to school, work and to friends' homes. I remember in the Fall of '89 I was rummaging through a junkyard for some little odds and ends and came across an imported XR2 Fiesta. My dad and I looked it over and ended up taking virtually everything (mechanically) off of it that could make my car into an XR2. I enjoyed that car for about a year until someone t-boned me.
My folks had a base Fiesta when I was in college. It was so fun to drive. Had an on-off clutch, an on-off heater but got great gas mileage. The Escort was not a great replacement.
One of my very first jobs as a kid was a new/used car porter at a Ford dealership in’79-‘81. I got to drive a few of these and found them to fun, nimble handling cars.
Me too! I remember when the 80’ Thunderbird came out, what a disappointment. Fiestas were fun to drive, but the batteries were always going dead. So every time a customer came in to test drive, I had to go out and jump them.
This brings back a lot of memories for me. I remember this car so well. My dad bought one new at Wayside Ford in MA back in 78'. I was 13 at the time. My first job after high school I worked with my mom and she'd let me drive it after we dropped my dad off at his job. We'd just swap seats later down the road because my dad never would let me drive it lol. First time I ever drove a stick and really enjoyed it. It was basic, barebones transportation but it was a good and dependable little car from what I remember. My father finally traded it in for a new 84' Dodge Omni. I'm amazed you said you've seen these around. I haven't seen one here in the U.S. in decades. Last time I saw one was when I went to the UK for my work back in 2006. Saw a couple of them and it blew me away since I hadn't seen any of these in so long.
Most of these were driven into the ground because they were cheap transportation. However i do see one or two locals that drive them often enough to keep them going. Thanks for sharing your story and for watching.
Bought a brand new red S model in 1980 and loved it. Peppy little car and handled well on those 12" tires! It did go through a couple of water pumps (was the belt too tight?) but was otherwise seemed to be a well built car. My friends knick-named it BK (for Beer Kan - being made in Germany and all) because it had that "sound" when closing the doors. Only got stuck in the snow twice, but that was because the snow as so deep the tires no longer touched the road! I was a little hard on it but it had 140,000 miles on it when I traded it in (and the 2nd gear syncro was gone from those 1-2 shifts). I still say it should have had a 5 speed as the motor was buzzing at 70mph on the highway. I miss it.
Hey Tony !!!! 👋 another cool video. Thanks!!!! My family had a small dental prosthetic business back in day. They had a yellow with brown interior 1980. (Same vintage as me) 😁 It was the delivery car for the business, which my dad acquired after it was replaced with an 88' tracer. I can still smell the interior of that car. I remember my dad shifting through the gears as I rode around with him. That's for the trip to the past !!!! It was a good car for the common folk in its time. Be good !!!!!
The father of a friend in HS had a yellow Fiesta (like in the commercials)- he would pick us up from football practice and load all our gear in it along with his typewriter repair equipment as he was a typewriter repairman- something else that has disappeared. 😂😂
I had a mk1 XR2 put new springs and shocks on her and good tyres new rear axle and it stuck to the road like a limpet on a rock you could drift it on the throttle in total control only a 1.6 engine but there was little that could stay with me on a good road brilliant car.
Bought one of these in about 1990 for $350. It developed a bad tranny leak after a few months. The shop I took it to for repair tried to fix it with RTV. That made it worse. Then they found what they said was the last seal in the country and tried to charge me an additional thousand bucks to fix it. Made me laugh. They fixed it like they were supposed to the first time for just the cost of the seal. It was a fun little car that I drove for about five years. Being a teenager of the 70's, I have also owned Capris, Pintos, a Maverick, Mustangs 1 and II and an Escort. Hadn't really tried to be a Ford person but most of my vehicles seem to have been small Fords...except for my F250 that had a 460 engine in it.
The Fiesta ST was just included in the APR/MAY issue of Road and Track as one of "The 20 Greatest Cars We've Ever Driven." You should do a review of that car.
I had a yellow one that I bought for $1,100 in 1986. I loved that car, especially the color and the gas mileage. I ended up trading it in on a Citation X11. I was stationed in West Germany in 1979 and I even drove through Koln on occasion. So I remember seeing XR2s, European Escort XR3s and other hot hatches we never got here. All I could afford while I was there was a Lime Green Golf MK1. The good part was it had the 90hp (GTis were 110hp) 1.5 litre engine, so the same as the U.S. Rabbit GTi.
I bought my used orange 1978 Fiesta in 1980 for $300 (three hundred dollars). Manual transaxle, and came with two pop-up sunroofs, one glass and one body-colored steel. I loved ❤ that thing more than the contemporaneous VW Rabbits. I sold it to my sister for $150, the price of the four new tires I'd put on it. She ended up with two of them in her garage.
I remember the original Fiesta. It was a much more driver involved experience than say, a similar year Corolla or (god help you) a B210. Much (much!) quicker too. For 78-80, you could easily take most of the small cars 0-60, being careful only against a Rabbit. Indeed you could beat most of the rest of the market offerigs in stoplight drags - this was when Chrysler was putting the slug veriosn of a 318 in much of its line up and B body GMs came standard with either the Buick 231 or the Chevy 250 6. Buzzy at speed, could have used a 5th gear. Though in 80 you were cop bait at 72 mph on the highway, so that was somewhat less bothersome. What hurt it in sales may have been the lack of automatic option (which would have killed its nature) but more so the strength of the DM in the late 70's - which also hurt the Rabbit, part of the reason for the PA factory. The Fiesta was a small mini, the size of a Civic. But, by the time you spec'd a Ghia interior (much more livable) and some of stuff Japan gave as standard (power discs, tinted glass, etc.) it was priced like an Accord.
My mom had an mk2. She drove it for 25 years, then gave it away because of a little problem which made me upset because i wanted to have it for my first car!
My Dad had one of these. He put front and rear sway bars on it from a car in the salvage yard. He swapped the generator for a alternator. Added a passenger's side mirror. Other mods were that he put better speakers in the doors and a cassette player. Fog lights were added a bit later as well. I drove it sometimes, but he sold it for a Volkswagen.
Brings back good memories. I got a 1980 brand new. It as a very good car. I think I got 100K miles on the original Michelin X tires! I believe the front and rear bumpers interchanged.
I grew up in San Bernardino, California and saw many of these in the early 1980s. Haven't seen one in the flesh in at least twenty years tho. Great video.
An '80 Fiesta was the first new car I'd ever bought. I used to beat a Fiero on the drag up the hill out of Arlington, Mass., on the way to work. It had an oil leak somewhere, though, that would cause the plugs to foul when the ignition wires got wet. I used to wash the engine with Gunk every couple of weeks.
Never drove a Fiesta Tony but i did have a 1980 Ford Taunus coupe that i purchased when i moved to Germany back in 86. Drove it for a few months till i bought a BMW. I'm sure you've seen one. To me they looked like a mini Ford Granada.
I had a 1980 fiesta s great car a lot of room in it handled really well but it was kinda a bit of a tin can I sadly was hit basically head on in late 1985 and spent the next year and a half in physical therapy after getting badly hurt in the accident but they were great cars
in 1980 when I was in HS, I had a VW Rabbit and a family friend that I go fluing with in his plane occasionally had a Ford Fiesta. One day we parked the cars next to each other and compared. The VW had more rear leg room, more space behind the rear seat, but was narrower than the Fiesta. Then we did a drag race down the taxiway of the local airport (loved it back then pre 9/11). It was very obvious my Rabbit was quicker - my 1.8L compared to his 1.3L. Then we looked at the VIN sticker and it had the Fiesta at 700 lbs lighter. So essentially, Ford built the car to be stripped down and slightly powered to get maximum MPG. When the Yugo came out, I couldn't help but think it looked a lot like the Fiesta, but built way cheaper.
I still remember the tiny Festiva from the late 80s. They had bad quality materials on the exterior that were prone to rust and bad quality materials in the interior that were prone to cracks and ripping.
Fun fact : The Fiesta name was first seen on a limited production 1953 Oldsmobile convertible, and on Olds wagons from 1957 to 1964. By the mid-Seventies when they were ready to produce the car and they didn't yet have a name for it, Ford of Europe executives asked General Motors if they could have the "Fiesta" name, and they got it!
Mom bought a new yellow sport one. We put 177k miles on it with no repairs. I learned to drive a clutch in it at 14. Ours was the only one I ever saw with A/C. I always looked to see but never once saw another one with it.
As a European I'm surprised that the Fiesta, the smallest Ford on the European market, was imported to the country of the land yachts, but it makes sense as a move to improve the average fuel economy.
I had a 1978 base model the windshield squirters were a rubber ball on the firewall that you pumped with your foot. And they came without a glove compartment door i ordered one for $22 and installed it my self
Ich fahre zur Zeit den Urenkel, einen 96er Fiesta JBS mit 1.25 Liter 16 Ventil Zetec Motor und 75 PS. Bin sehr zufrieden, das Auto ist zuverlässig und macht Spaß. Viele Grüße aus Berlin in Deutschland.
Ich freue mich zu hören, dass es noch ein paar dieser lustigen kleinen Autos gibt. Vielen Dank für die netten Worte und dafür, dass Sie sich mein Video angesehen haben.
When I was a kid our next door neighbor had a dark blue 1980 Fiesta. They were really basic and not luxurious in any way but that engine and transmission were almost indestructible. The bad thing about them and most cars in general then was that they rusted out. I live in the Ohio Valley and most cities and states here drop 2" of salt for every 1" of snow and that can just eat a car alive.
Thanks for sharing! Salt will do a number on any bit of steel that isn't completely painted. I live in PA and we deal with it here as well. I won't take a car I care about out in the winter. I wait until there several hard rains in the spring.
I went to school with a girl in the early 1990’s whose mom drove a bright red Fiesta… we would make fun of her mom’s car and call it “the tomatomobile…” and now? I wish I had that little car. Kids can be so hateful. She was a sweet kid, and never did anything to any of us. I hope she’s happy and fulfilled today.
I used to rent cars from Hertz, why you might ask? Well, during 78 to early 81, the cheapest rental car they had was a Ford Fiesta Decor model. As noted by this you tube video, all were standard transmissions, but only select Hertz locations had them and in most locations they only had an AM radio and no AC. In Florida I got one with dealer added a/c and when I turned it on, lost almost 5 mph! Not fast, thinny doors, but fun to drive, cheap to rent (if I remember right, the Florida a/c car was $9 a day) and great on fuel. Those were the days of basic but reliable transport.
FYI Mk1 and Mk2 simply means Mark one and Mark two It took too long for Ford to utilise its world wide appeal. They already had a better car than the Pinto in the form of the Cortina
