Ford’s run of super-small cars in the United States over the past few decades has been admittedly less than stellar. Actually, let’s not be polite: it’s been pretty bad. But that hasn’t always been the case; when Ford got the tiny-car concept right, it really got it right. I’m talking about the first Ford Fiesta, and it deserves your respect.
I get your skepticism. A little while back, our Mercedes Streeter did a takedown of the EcoSport, Ford of America’s Indian import that was noticeably smaller and less refined than the competition. The EcoSport probably wasn’t much worse in period than the Korean-built Ford Aspire doorstop that preceded it in the late nineties, or even the Festiva that came before that, but none of these was even close to sniffing the exhaust of the class leaders.
What’s sad is that we all know Ford’s Europe-only offerings in the sub-compact range have been anything but poor. Naturally, we haven’t been able to get many of them, but almost fifty years ago, American Ford stores did receive a German-built front-drive hatchback with styling by the same person who created the DeTomaso Pantera and a motor almost twice the size of the standard engine overseas. Did you know that it was also Ford’s only truly successful “world car?” No, you wouldn’t, since you probably forgot about the first Ford Fiesta. That changes now.
A Diamond Among Turds
If you wanted to gift one of your Ford-crazy enemies in the best possible way, here’s what you could do: Offer them a like-new example of any Blue Oval product they want, but they don’t get to pick which year. No, that’s your job. Heh, heh. Personally, anything from Ford’s full-line catalog in the era between 1974 and 1978 would be perfect to really demoralize this person that you despise.
Let’s take a look at the highly underwhelming 1978 general cornucopia of crap:
You’ve got:
Pinto: By then, a nearly-decade-old car that wasn’t cutting edge when new in 1971
Granada: A Maverick rebodied to look like a Temu Mercedes
LTD II: “Mid-sized” warmed-over old Torino that was bigger than the far-better 1978 full-sized Caprice
LTD: The size of a freaking house with a gutless monster V8
Mustang II: Don’t get me started
Thunderbird: A tarted-up old Torino coupe with more overhang
To be fair, that first Fox body Fairmont wasn’t horrible, but the engine and chassis options were still pretty damn weak. No, the only decent car here is the yellow one that looks about ten years newer than most of the others. Oddly enough, it was a car that Ford was essentially forced to bring here.
You see, Ford Motor Company was under the gun of the U.S. Government to meet all-new fuel economy restrictions that required them to produce a fleet with an average of around 18MPG. What could the offer be to counteract the immense thirst of that gargantuan LTD? Thankfully, this is one time that the overseas counterpart of an American company had a great car, and the U.S. branch brought it over without screwing it up. If anything, they made it better.
Bobcats And Wolves, Oh My
Maybe it was the fact that their parent companies were based in the land of six lanes and thirty-cents-a-gallon gas, but both GM and Ford in Europe were late to the front-drive little car game. By the early seventies, the British Mini’s formula was being copied by the likes of Simca, Renault, Citroen, Peugeot, and Fiat. Starting in 1969, Ford of Europe began developing their own competitor for these sub-compacts with what they dubbed “Project Bobcat”, a name that might make you think of the Mercury version of the Pinto with a silly Lincolnesque grille, but in fact it bears no relation to that car.
Ford took a Fiat 127 as a benchmark (in fact, using such a car as a test “mule” for Project Bobcat components), yet what is not commonly known is that there were actually two Bobcat concept directions being worked on at once. According to author Roberto Parazitas, Ford of Europe was developing its own car, styled primarily in-house in Germany.
At the same time, Ford’s President Lee Iacocca and product planner Hal Sperlich initiated a somewhat larger “Bobcat” they dubbed the “Wolf,” which would have been launched and built in the United States. Ford had already purchased the automotive design house of Ghia; famed designer of the DeTomaso Pantera and Fiat 124 Spyder named Tom Tjaarda was employed there at the time and penned the “Wolf” concepts in both fastback and “shooting break” form.
Now, Henry Ford II famously hated little automobiles, thinking that small cars meant small profits, and he agreed to Project Bobcat only because Europe needed it. “Hank The Deuce” did not know about Lido and Hal’s side project, but according to Iacocca, “Sperlich and I were too hot on this project to give it up. There just had to be some way to build the Wolf and make a profit”. As with Lido and Sperlich’s failed minivan and small front-drive primary cars projects at Ford, you already kind of know where this was going, right?
A big issue turned out to be producing an engine and transaxle in America, and the immense tooling cost. Sperlich and Iacocca’s idea was to go to Honda to purchase drivetrains, an idea that Honda was surprisingly happy to accept (remember that Volkswagen provided powertrains for the first Dodge Omnis). Pleased with the news, Lee and Hal presented their work to Henry II and immediately had their behinds handed to them. Ford vehemently refused to build this American small car, further adding that “No car with my name on the hood will ever have a (racial slur) engine.” The name on the outside of the building they were in also did not say “Iacocca”, so that was the end of it—or was it?
No, it was just the beginning. The lovely styling of the “Wolf” ended up on the production Fiesta that was launched in 1976. Extremely well received by the press and buyers alike, the Fiesta went on to become one of Europe’s best-selling cars.
Sadly, Ford of Europe did not offer that cool “shooting brake” version that was shown as the Wolf, though they did tease the public with a one-off wagon-backed version called the Tuareg many years before Volkswagen used the name. This could possibly be the silliest/coolest thing you see all week here:
How about the good old nation that’s Home of the Whopper? Well, the 1975 announcement of the CAFÉ average fuel economy regulations meant that, like it or not, Henry II would need a small car in his fleet to bring those numbers down. Enter the car he begrudgingly accepted and picked the name “Fiesta” over marketing’s choice of “Bravo.” You just knew he’d still disagree with something, right?
It Could Skin A Rabbit
Here’s one of those times where running out of time and money was a blessing. Ford had no choice but to quickly federalize the great-looking European Fiesta . Unlike later failed “world cars,” where the chrome-laded whitewalled squishy-suspensioned American version doesn’t share any body panels with the German car, the only changes the U.S. specification Fiesta received were not-too-park-bench-like 5 MPH bumpers, door protection beams, round sealed beam and side marker lights (in a trick move, those bumpers appear to be identical front and back with the turn signals replaced by backup lights in the rear).
In America, the Fiesta came in four trim levels. The base model was naturally very stripped down and built to a price; next was a “decor” group edition that could add some minor equipment to make it more tolerable, but rest assured that that probably wasn’t any less expensive German-built import you could buy in the U.S. at the time.
The enthusiast’s choice was a sporting “S” model with thicker anti-roll bars, a tach, and ultra-cool super-seventies striped seat upholstery. By the way, I’ve been to Germany and nowhere did I see lederhosen-clad bellhops at hotels putting luggage into cars.
The absolute top-of-the-line model was the “Ghia” with a relatively fancy interior (back in the time when Ford put the badge of the famed styling house on every upper-end model they had, but at least the Fiesta really was a Ghia creation).
Feast your eyes below at the Ghia’s decedent cabin, with all the body-colored sheet metal parts covered in black vinyl. There was also upgraded upholstery, a fake woodgrain finish dash, and even an electric clock on the console below a whole bunch of rocker switches for various accessories. What kind of Mr. Moneybags bought this thing?
Now, under the hood, Ford saw some major problems with the standard Fiesta engines. In Europe, the standard motor was a 957 cc “Valencia” four with a measly 44 hp or a bored-out 1,117 cc version with a whopping 52 hp. (They received a 1300 cc version as the “performance” model a few years later.) With the prospect of the required US emission controls and extra weight from the additional safety equipment, the car wouldn’t have been able to move out of its own way in America. Ford fixed the problem by going a bit overboard, installing a 1597 cc version of that same engine boasting 67 horsepower in smogged-out form.
Looking at the specs below, you can see that the Fiesta has a two-barrel Weber carb, which is “the brand used in Ferrari.”
Those 67 horses don’t sound like much, but remember that this was a car that, by today’s standards, weighed next to nothing. Contemporary road tests typically pulled zero to sixty times of around 11.5 seconds or less; that’s about a second or two faster than the vaunted VW Rabbit. What’s really funny, though, is that figure is really only about a second or two slower than Ford’s sportiest car of the time- the 302 V8-powered Mustang II King Cobra! Also, I can guarantee that in terms of handling, a Fiesta could run rings around that Pinto-chassis piece of crap.
Most period reviews found the Fiesta to be an absolute blast to drive. It should come as no surprise that when you look at pictures of old SCCA Showroom Stock races from the era that there’s usually more than one Fiesta on the track. Remember, this was an actual German-built car at a relatively bargain-basement price at a time when dealers were gauging the crap out of the likes of Volkswagens.
Oddly enough, for a mainstream Big Three car sold in the late seventies, there was no automatic transmission option. According to a Road & Track review, Ford used the excuse of a slushbox being too much of a drag on such a small car and engine, though considering the wheel-chirping power, that sounds a bit hollow. At least that power helped with the optional air conditioning that was not available in Europe (the knobs and vents on the dash edge in the image below).
Negatives? Interior plastics were considered a bit cheap-feeling by some, but that’s really nitpicking on this affordable import. Honestly, most contemporary reviews struggled to find a bad word to say about the American Fiesta. As with so many things in life, we have no idea how good something is until it’s gone.
The Fiesta Takes A Siesta
This Fiesta continued to be sold in Europe until 1983 when the madly facelifted second-generation model was introduced (though the basic platform was still made up until early 1989). Unfortunately, after three brief model years in America, the little Ford’s run was done at the end of 1980. Ironically, the 1.6-liter engine standard for the United States wasn’t available in Europe until 1981, when it appeared in the XR2 version from the glorious era of competing lightweight and nimble “hot hatches” to combat the VW GTI (free of smog equipment, it offered 82 horsepower of oomph).
What killed it? Well, in 1981, both the clunky old Pinto (yes, they were still making a Pinto in 1980) and the Fiesta were replaced by the “world car” Ford Escort, which shared not nearly enough with the overseas model and wasn’t a “world car” at all. Humorous note: Ford’s reported claim that an automatic might weigh down the Fiesta too much was called out as bull when the 1.6-liter-engined, 69-horsepower Escort was offered with a slushbox even in its heaviest A/C equipped station wagon form. Only in the malaise era would a car with an 11-second zero-to-sixty time be essentially replaced by an all-new one that was five or six seconds slower. The “SS” on the cars below stands for “Super Slow”.
The Fiesta indeed brought the corporate average fuel economy numbers down, but with the German exchange rates, the Fiesta supposedly was exactly the profit sink which Henry II had feared. Still, as usual, when corporations lose money on a car, enthusiasts win.
Don’t let Ford’s recent track record skew your opinion on Ford’s ability to make desirable super-mini cars. We all seem to have forgotten a time in the distant past where Dearborn’s smallest product might have easily been its best.
topshot credit: Ford
Started Community College in Dearborn fall of 1980, driving up Hines drive every morning there was just an endless line of Fiesta’s of various colors heading to work in Dearborn.
Dealers had left over 1980 models for cheap in 1981. I test drove one and it handled well, but the seat bottom was very small. I was driving an MGB at the time, so not comparing the Fiesta to a land yacht.
I’ve driven an 87 UK spec Fiesta and it seemed quick enough, although quite a bit of time was in traffic jams where acceleration and handling are irrelevant. They seemed like an OK alternative to VW of the time, although the Fiesta was more Polo than Golf sized. I had a US spec Scirocco and my parents had just replaced a first generation Accord with a second generation Accord so I had a lot of comparisons.
If I could find a decent Fiesta S I’d take a flyer on it
Me too. I had a 3rd generation Accord and now have 9th generation one. They are/were both really solid cars. But in the late 70s, my girlfriend’s Fiesta was just a joy to drive. Sadly, neither of my Accords have/had sticks.
The song “I’m an Adult Now” by the Canadian band The Pursuit of Happiness comes to my mind for some reason. They should do a remix titled “I’m a Senior Citizen Now.” And hence, my 9G Accord.
The 3G wife didn’t know how to drive a manual. The 9G wife did and was fine driving my ’01 Jetta TDI 5M, but the 9G four door Accord V6 was not available with a stick. The Jetta really needed a sixth gear in Texas. And with neuropathy settling into my feet now, I’ve made peace with not having a third pedal to deal with. But I do miss rowing through the gears.
In the mid-90s when me and my friends were getting our driving licenses, a couple of my friends had first gen Fiestas as their first car, and to our teenaged eyes, they lost out to the Polo by being a bit smaller, and feeling a bit less stable at high speeds. Mind you, that might have just been a lack of maintenance. All of our cars were base spec and at least fifteen years old.
IIRC my first Polo was £100, but the insurance for a 17 y/o was about £500 for a year.
Still, at least we had bragging rights over the one guy I knew who had a Metro. Those things were absolute turds.
Funny you should call Metros turds. Back in the 80s I rented a Metro, and it was brown so we promptly dubbed it the flying turd. A new Metro 1275 in base trim was actually fun to drive apart from a really stiff gearshift. I guess they age poorly.
I had a girlfriend with a base Fiesta back in the day. She didn’t really like driving that much and so when we went out, I got to drive her Fiesta. It was a lot more fun to drive than the Datsun 510 wagon I had at the time. If I had a two car garage, I’d like to find one of these. I miss that GF, a bit, and I miss how fun that car was to drive. It was very lively. She was too. But that was a looong time ago. And there were reasons…
If I had a cat, I’d tease them about ‘diamond turds.’ Also, it’s mostly just the haircut, but that kid in the photo collage ad where it says ‘Lots of back seat room’ looks just like Nicholas from Eight is Enough, which I think was roughly contemporaneous with this Fiesta.
Thank you Bishop, I enjoyed reading all of this. 🙂
In the early 90s I had a blue 78 Fiesta with the 4spd manual as winter beater to preserve my restored 78 Civic. I called it Old Blue Steel, from a line in “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” by ZZ Top. A previous owner had installed a big cushy power driver’s seat. It would often not start below freezing, and one time I punched and shattered the windshield out of frustration.
After my 2nd winter with it I sold it, and saw it around the neighborhood for a couple years after that, in nice shape than I had kept it. Good for him.
The Fiesta was a small car that just kept on running. One of my buds had one as his commute car as a new hire airline pilot. This meant it was parked in one of the outlying lots for employees at Miami International as he commuted to make sign in from Key Largo. If he had used a more attractive car, it would have soon been jacked. It drove, had a functioning AC (a downing discrepancy for South Florida), a radio. Used little gas and always started. To top it off it was one of the bright yellow models, earning the name, “The Banana.” This went on into the late 90’s when entropy finally took the car. It had some ridicules milage on it and there was talk of using it as an artificial reef. Since the South Florida climate had already thinned out the body panels, it may not have lasted long underwater. It was just a reliable commuter that did yeoman service as long as you still wanted to drive it.
As a european, those 67 horses sound downright excessive. If I look out the window I can see two cars with a combined 68hp (there’s another 34hp Renault 4 parked down the road from mine).
According to people who drove most EU-spec hot hatches during the 80s and 90s, the XR2 is often cited the most terrifying to drive.
My brother had one, second hand. He drove it so much, so hard, he broke the shifter. My Dad yelled at him and replaced it with a pvc pipe section, “temporarily”. He drove it like that for another two years. Lol.
Saw an absolutely insane one of these in emerald isle, the owner had a bunch of bizarre stickers and had slapped an Excursion badge on the back. Funniest car I’ve probably ever seen
I inherited my Dad’s taste in cars – no bigger than necessary and rewarding to use. I treasure the one time, driving his Fiesta on a road trip, he remarked on how good of fuel mileage I got.
Still love little tin can TARDISes like that and I’d seriously consider a vintage Fiesta now if it were less than 50% rust.
My high school econ teacher was still rocking one of these in 1986. He knew what was up.
Drove a base model 78 for a few years before university. Great little car. Fun to toss around and was dead reliable. My brother had a VW Rabbit at the same time and while my Fiesta was reliable his Rabbit was a cantankerous misbehaving pile of woe. He sold it after 2 years of misery. I traded off my Fiesta for a gen 1 CRX HF. That was another epic little car.
My dad bought a ’79 Fiesta base model (no radio even…grrr) the year I graduated high school. It was an absolute tin can on wheels but a blast to drive. I took it in to the Ford dealer for their routine 1000 mile checkup and the mechanic wrecked it doing “a road test”. Apparently he was racing it out on the main drag.
My first car out of college was a ’78 Fiesta. It was a great car and yes an aggressive 1 to 2 shift would chirp the tires. Loved that car.
Those were everywhere in Yurp at the time. They were cheaper than the VW Golf/Rabbit, less shit than the Fiat 127 and Autobianchi A112, and a serious competitor to the R5. Peugeot’s 104 and its brother Citroen’s LNA were so dowdy and terminally uncool I don’t think anyone cross shopped them with the R5/Golf/Fiesta.
“The Fiesta indeed brought the corporate average fuel economy numbers down, “
Don’t you mean “brought the CAFE numbers UP”?
I had one of the ’78s in 1985. What a great little car that was! 35MPG on the highway… imagine if it had another gear in the transmission! I was a poor college student and had to sell it, but I bought it back after the buyers had an accident. I drove it (all banged up) for another year or two. Nothing but good memories of that little hatchback.
According to the ad, it came with 145R12 tires. Mine had 155R12s, which were twenty bucks apiece back then.
I had one of these back in the day and it remains one of my favorites out of all the cars I’ve owned – just an absolute blast to drive, particularly when I put a set of Pirellis on it. So, so much better than the Shitette my dad persuaded me to get before it. Fun fact – the radio was in a separate plastic box that hung off the bottom of the dash.
The 1st gen Fiesta was before my time, but your description reminds me of the reviews of the first Focus that came to the US. I had a 3 door hatch Focus as a rental when the crankshaft on my 5th gen Prelude SH let go. I spent several hours completely thrashing the Focus on Mulholland Hwy, and other than completely destroying the brakes (which l never blamed on the car given that I abused them like one only would with a rental someone else was paying for), the car was an absolute blast.
Would love to hear the story of the focus and how close or far it strayed from the European version
The US got the rough end of the deal. The Mk1 was mainly similar in both markets.
But in 2004, Europe got an all-new Focus, which was excellent on pretty much every parameter. Also epic five-pot ST, RS & RS500 versions. In the US, you got a weird heavy facelift of the Mk1 instead, which didn’t look right inside or out.
Then in 2011 the continents reunited with the Mk3, and this time the US even got the ST and RS hot hatches for the first time, which was nice.
That was the end of the line for the Focus in the States, but Europe got the fantastic all-new Mk4 in 2018 – along with another very well-reviewed ST – but that has just gone out of production even here.
For Focus, fin.
If these would have been available with an automatic transmission they probably have sold more in the states here.
The Fiesta looks good to me from every angle except the front. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about it that just doesn’t look quite right. (Of course, if their ads featured the dude in the lime green suit who’s in the Escort SS ad, then it would look completely perfect!)
The front looks bad because of changes foisted upon it by US ‘federalization’ requirements. Look at the original front end of the European Fiesta for comparison.
Although Ford Europe ended up using the round headlights on the XR2 model.
True, but that wasn’t the only change made to the US version. It also had ugly bumpers and that horrible offset ‘FORD’ badging instead of the centred blue oval of the original.
The thing that gets me is the curb weight being less than 1800 pounds. Probably dies explain why they rusted out so fast.
Had a cousin that bought one of these brand new in 80. Thing was a blast to sling around and pretty peppy for it’s day. I remember it had overheating issues, and filling gas was a slow painful process due to the angle of the filler tube. Overall, a fun car.
The Fiesta was nice but let’s not overlook the updated 78 Courier.
Screw Ford and the designer. I just was informed to my great surprise a Dodge Viper fit the mpg bill. Could you imagine introducing a Viper to the generation? Makes that little hatchback look lame. Hey didn’t Ford do the Shelby Cobra around this time? Small? Yes. Fast? Yes. I’m not going to estimate the mpg because of my Viper miscue.