As car enthusiasts, we can all appreciate seeing a vehicle used in a way most of us have never considered – and the end result more or less being a “win.” When you say hot hatch, most of us immediately think of a Volkswagen GTI or a Honda Civic Si, not a Ford Fiesta. And to be fair, the Fiesta – like this 1980 model listed here on craigslist – was always presented as a commuter car with great fuel economy, plugging a hole in Ford’s lineup with one of its popular European models. The seller of this example, however, has decided to exploit the car’s handling potential.
With the Ford Escort not even a sketch on a cocktail napkin, Ford had a problem. Increasingly stringent CAFE standards demanded that Ford (and other automakers) quickly plug gaps in their lineups with captive imports like the Fiesta. All Ford had to offer in the “economical” car segment was the aging Pinto, which had already been rocked by a safety scandal. The VW Rabbit and Honda Civic in their standard, base model forms handily out-performed the Pinto both in fuel economy as well as being fun to drive. Importing the Fiesta was the answer it needed.
Like most lightweight and tossable hatches, the Fiesta proved fun to drive even with its humble powertrain. This was a similar trait with its competitors from Germany and Japan, as the foreign automakers figured out how to make economy cars feel lively and fun despite being built to save on fuel. The seller of this Fiesta has added some modern improvements to exploit this car’s natural handling qualities, such as adding sticky Toyo R888 tires and sharp basketweave alloys. The seller also notes it sports some vintage upgrades, likely pointing to a lifetime of being someone’s backroads carver.
The listing notes it appears to wear old-school Koni shocks, sport springs, upgraded sway bars, cam and headers on the stock 1.6L Kent Crossflow engine, and additional gauges. He’s also added a racing bucket seat and Momo steering wheel, and based on the photos, hasn’t been afraid to hustle it. The car does tend to run a little hot in traffic, and has additional fans installed, so you may have a cooling system issue to address. Fun fact: it was apparently used as a runabout by a San Jose speed shop back in the day; anyone recognize it? The asking price is a reasonable $7,800, and thanks goes to Barn Finds reader Rocco B. for the find.
I bought a ’79 Fiesta Sport new in ’79 & went Showroom Stock
racing with it shortly after that.That car got more trophies than any
other one I’ve owned.I still hold the SSC record at the now-defunct
Lord Ellis Hillclimb.That car also got 25mpg around town,35 mpg on
the highway without trying to get good gas mileage.I also got 53 mpg
out of it driving 60 mph from Visalia to Sacramento.
I also owned an ’80 Ghia that had every option on it,plus an engine
bored out to 1700 with twin Weber 40’s.It had about 125 horsepower.
After getting out of the Fiesta game for many years,this ’80 Sport
fell into my lap & I couldn’t pass it up.It sits in the garage awaiting work,
as my other vehicles all seem to need work,plus money.I really like the
BWA 13″ wheels that came on it.