Life begins at 40 for the Ford Fiesta. Here's how the past four decades have gone.
In 1976, Ireland was in deep recession. Sure, what’s new? Cearbhall O Dalaigh was president before resigning and then Patrick Hillery became Ireland’s sixth President. The UK also had two Prime Ministers that year, the US had two Presidents and Fidel Castro became the President of Cuba.
Concorde started service, the Apple Computer Company was formed by Jobs and Wozniak and Matsushita introduced the VHS home video cassette recorder. What a time to be alive!
In the motoring world a few notable new models hit our roads including the Mercedes-Benz W123 (the predecessor to the E-Class), Lotus Esprit, Honda Accord and last, but certainly not least, the Ford Fiesta.
The Fiesta was the first front-wheel drive, transverse engined car Ford ever made, and the small hatchback was built to rival the likes of the Volkswagen Polo and Renault 5 at the time. Although basic, it did have some neat design features, including a slatted front grille that lowered its drag coefficient.
In 1976, the Ford Fiesta was only available in 950cc and 1,100cc forms, powered by a Kent engine, and all Mk1 Fiestas featured 12-inch wheels as standard.
When it first hit the Irish market it cost £2,365, which, if we spin that through an Irish inflation calculator is about €17,695 today. Steep! Right now, you can get a three-door Ford Fiesta for €16,350.
Due to its low price, spacious interior and great visibility the Ford Fiesta became a best seller and the millionth Fiesta was produced in 1979. In 1982 the Fiesta was crowned the best-selling car in its class in Britain and Germany for six years running.
The Fiesta MkII appeared in August 1983 and the MkIII in 1989, which was finally available with five doors; the MkIV appeared in 1995. This version shared a production line with the Mazda 121 and was all but identical in appearance.
In 1999, the Fiesta got a bit of a facelift and was the last generation to be built at Ford’s Dagenham plant in the UK. This was in fact the last Ford model to be built in Dagenham prior to its closure in 2002.
The fifth-generation Ford Fiesta made its debut that year and was the first Fiesta to feature antilock brakes and passenger airbags as standard. The fifth-gen is sometimes called the MkVI in the UK as over there the fourth-gen facelifted model was deemed to be called the MkV. This is the best-selling generation to date.
The sixth generation, or Ford Fiesta MkVI, debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2007, went on sale in 2008 and was built on Ford’s global B-car platform.
In 2011, the Fiesta RS WRC car made its competitive debut.
The current generation, the Ford Fiesta MkVII, hit our roads in 2012. In 2014 Ford unleased the 140hp 1.0-litre Red/Black editions (not in Ireland, though - we only get a 125hp variant), which have a better power-per-litre ratio than a Bugatti Veyron, fact fans!
And in 2016 the Fiesta ST200 was launched with a 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine, which is the fastest ever production Fiesta.
So, to ring in the 40th year of the Ford Fiesta many countries have been holding commemorative events and the Irish celebrations saw 40 Fiesta enthusiasts from across the country drive a range of old and new models in a convoy along the M4 to Weston Airport.
When they arrived, former Stig, Ben Collins was waiting to take the Fiesta fans for a few hot laps in the ST200. Cue lots of nervous laughter as the unsuspecting passengers were strapped in and the cameras started rolling. Dignity. Window. Gone. Nevertheless, when they got out of the car they all had smiles plastered across their puce-coloured faces.
Also at the event, Ford announced who had the oldest still-running Fiesta in Ireland and that accolade went to John Egan from Tuam and his well-preserved 1978 model.
To date, the Ford Fiesta has sold more than 17 million units around the world and some 180,000 Fiestas have found a home in Ireland giving it a rightful claim to the country’s longest-standing and favourite small car.
“The Fiesta has had such a unique and exceptional heritage in Ireland”, commented Ciarán McMahon, Chairman and Managing Director of Ford in Ireland. “It has been part of the family for countless households down through the years and is the car that most of us actually learned to drive in - experiences like that build a unique and strong affinity”.
Do you have a favourite Ford Fiesta or a Fiesta story? We’d love to hear about it.
Click here to discover some things you may not have known about the Ford Fiesta.
In the video below Karel Willaert, a Test Engineer at Lommel Proving Ground in Belgium, tested the prototype Mark 1 Fiesta. 40 years later he gets back into the first generation Fiesta and takes us along on the drive.