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Ford Fiesta Mk1 (1976 - 1983)
Last updated 16 November 2015
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Buying Guide
Good
- 11' 8" long by 5' 2" wide and weighing from 700kg to 800kg.
- Low insurance groups.
- Cheap and simple.
- 'Valencia' pushrod engines are long-lasting so long as the cars get driven regularly.
- Spares cheap and second-hand parts plentiful.
- Mk1 957 had 40bhp; 1,117 had 53bhp; 1,298cc had 65bhp. 1,598cc ohv XR2 from 1981 - 1983
- Also a 54bhp 1.6 diesel (same basic engine that lasted until 2010)
- Still a DIY maintenance car.
- Fiesta Mk 1 Supersport was a 1.3 with alloys that preceded the first XR2i.
Bad
- Old and rust-prone.
- Too light.
- Unusually long gearlever throw between 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th.
Watch
- Extremely rust-prone, particularly front inner wings just above strut top mountings.
- A rust-weakened light car is a disaster waiting to happen, particularly with young people aboard.
- All these cars are so old now they need checking carefully. Yet now and again you can find an absolute peach, one owner, kept in a dry garage, washed and polished twice a week.
- 'Short-run syndrome', because many were used for shopping by elderly ladies and never got properly warmed up. 15 years ago, a 10-year-old Fiesta with 25,000 miles was close to needing a new engine and clutch.
- Watch out for effects of DIY maintenance mistakes.
- On the other hand a white socks and back-to-front baseball cap XR2 might have been surprisingly well cared for apart from huge holes in the parcel shelf for oversize speakers.
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