Back in the early 1980s I was working for a music distributor in upstate New York. The general manager of the place was a "car guy". He owned a TR6, a BMW 2002tii and a Ford Fiesta S. His favorite? The Fiesta.
The Fiesta was built in several countries and here in the US we got our Fiesta from Germany. It came with a 1600cc version of Ford's "Kent" engine. It made the car quicker than most people expected it to be. 60 MPH came in around 10.5 seconds, making it almost a full second quicker than a 1980 VW Rabbit. (To put that in perspective against a couple of other 1980 "economy cars", a Toyota Tercel took 14.8 seconds to reach 60 and a Honda Civic took 11.2 seconds.)The Fiesta sold extremely well in Europe, but was not as successful here. It lasted only 3 years and was replaced in the US lineup by the completely forgettable US built Escort. (Which was successful. Go figure.)
German car fans tended to ignore the Fiesta because of its Ford badge. Most Fiestas were bought by people looking for a cheap, economical car. They'd run them until they died and then send them off to the junkyard. Few of these fun little cars survive today.This car is a survivor. It needs some minor work, but it wouldn't take much time or money to turn into a very nice driver.
The body has a few minor dings and dents, but no serious rust or damage. The interior is complete, but the seller says the "drivers seat upholstery is dirty and needs cleaning". The engine had a top end rebuild about 5000 miles ago. The emissions equipment is off the car and, depending on where you live, it may have to be reinstalled and is included with the car. There are plenty of spare parts the go along with the car, too. They include a transaxle, cylinder head, intake manifold, carburetor, air cleaner, valve cover, radiator and shroud, pistons and rods, radio, interior parts and rims. A custom tow bar is also included.The seller adds a scary comment at the end of his ad... "Note: because of the light body, this would be a good donor car for electric conversion." No it wouldn't be! This car deserves to be back on the road in all its fossil fuel sipping (30+ MPG) glory.
Located in Vacaville, CA, click here to see the listing on the seller's personal website.A big thanks to John for sending me the link to this car.
