Some cars are muscular and brutal and have plenty of attitude that captures the heart and mind of an enthusiast. Others are like a little puppy that people simply want to take home because it is cute and playful. I highly doubt that the 1993 Ford Festiva L is ever likely to fall into the former category, but it seems to fit into the latter quite well. These were not a particularly rare car when they were new, but finding a clean and tidy example today can be quite difficult. This particular car would make an excellent daily commuter, it could serve brilliantly if you just needed to pop down to the store for a few groceries, and because of their relative rarity today, they can also attract their share of attention when taken out for a spot of relaxed weekend motoring. This little Ford is located in Grand Prairie, Texas, and has been listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding has reached $4,000, but the reserve hasn’t been met. There is also a BIN option available, and this has been set at $10,000.
Looking at the Aqua Festiva reveals a small car that is in very good condition for its age. While these little Fords could cruise quite happily on the open road at 70mph, the vast majority spent their lives plying the streets of the city and suburbs. This meant that they were more prone to bumps, dings, dents, and fender benders than those that spent their lives running free. It also meant that they had a tendency to look tatty and old before their time. This one has managed to avoid those issues, with the paint presenting well, and the panels appearing to be nice and straight. Given the Festiva’s location, I have to say that the external plastic trim has survived quite well, while the glass is free from obvious flaws. One area that was particularly prone to deterioration was the finish on the wheels. These wore a finish that wasn’t considered to be particularly good by industry standards and was prone to scratching, chips, and discoloration. These wheels appear to be really nice, and this leads to one interesting hypothesis. It is a definite possibility that the wheels have been refinished or replaced at some point. The owner makes no wild claims about ultra-low mileage, but the odometer only shows 19,000 miles at present. Common sense says that it has probably rolled over, but when I look at the overall condition of the Festiva, I have to admit that it is entirely conceivable that those miles could be original.
Let’s not mince words here. The Festiva was most definitely built down to a price because to be competitive in the small car segment, it simply had to represent good value for money if people were going to choose this instead of offerings from the competition. That meant that interior trim pieces weren’t of the highest quality, and it didn’t take much in the way of neglect to have the interior of these little Fords looking pretty sad. When finished in Aqua, the 1993 Festiva L was available with gray interior trim as the sole color. That is what we get here, and as with the exterior, it looks very respectable in there. There really are no issues in there apart from a single mark on the passenger seat vinyl. The dash is free from cracks, there is no appreciable edge wear on the front seats, while the carpet looks nice. With the plastic trim being of fairly low quality, it can develop some pretty horrendous scratches, scrapes, cracks, and marks. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the cargo area. Even minor neglect can show a mile away, but the plastic back there looks to be in better than average condition. For such a diminutive car, they do have an impressive cargo area, and when the spotless rear seat is folded flat, it is positively cavernous. I had a friend who used to own a Festiva L that was finished in white. He used to use the car as a shopping trolley, with a trip to the market about once a week to buy the groceries. He was shopping for four pretty solid adults and had no issues with fitting all of the shopping into the Festiva. In fact, the only thing that ever stopped it was the night that he miscued on a corner that was covered in gravel. The ensuing loss of traction saw the Ford parked upside-down in a drainage ditch, which really was a sad end for what had been an amazing little car.
What lies under the hood of the Festiva is hardly going to leave any muscle car quaking in its boots, but the 1,323cc fuel-injected 4-cylinder engine that we find hiding there does produce 63hp. Those rampant ponies find their way to the front wheels via a 5-peed manual transmission. These are not a fast car by any stretch of the imagination, and while a top speed of 100mph is theoretically possible, the feat would have to be achieved downhill with a tail-wind. This car’s party piece is its nippy maneuverability, along with its frugal fuel consumption. At less than 11′ in total length, these are a car that can be parked in some pretty tight spaces, while they have a tight turning circle to help with zipping through gaps in tight city traffic. As for fuel consumption, 30mpg was easy to achieve on any day of the week, while 40+ was possible with a bit of effort. The engine bay of this particular Festiva does present extremely nicely, and its overall condition does seem to support the possibility that the odometer reading might be accurate. The owner says that the vehicle runs and drives nicely, and its only issue is that it could do with a new muffler. He says that it has been like that for a while, but the fault actually provides a nice rasp to the engine note, which has made him loathe to change it.
The Festiva L was not a rare car when new, and sales of the 1st generation in the US easily exceeded 300,000 cars. They were cheap to buy, cheap to own, and cheap to run. That made them a firm favorite for commuter use, and it was this sort of life that saw many examples driven into the ground before being driven off for scrap. Finding a good one today can be quite difficult, and this one does appear to be just such a car. For me, the sticking point is the BIN price. I think that it is extremely optimistic, and even with the bidding at its current level, I can only hope that it is getting close to its reserve. This is a nice example, but on current trends, I wouldn’t be inclined to hand over a 5-figure sum to own it. What do you think?
The buy it now is set at $10000. Anyone that pays that for this car is dumber than 2 hammers.
That is for sure Mark.
If somebody does it will set a world record for a Festive sale.
These cars weren’t as bad as people think they were.
When I was buying and selling cars, I had good luck with them.
“liked” Reserve Not Met
they most smoke great weed in texas, these things were cheap junk when new and are gutless wonders, the people who bought these are the same ones that froze their ass off in vw bugs and thought they were great cars, I rented a pontiac aztec for a day royal heap too!
The Festiva was the first new car my wife and I ever purchased. It was an upgrade, however small, from the 1983 Mercury Monarch we traded in on this. My wife called it her bar bi**h puddle jumper. Upgraded (?) to a 93 Tempo After a couple of years.
1983 Mercury Monarch?
I would like to see that car.
just a ford granada with a different grill and name something for lincoln mercury dealers to dump on people or its ugly sister that lincoln based on the granada
Yes that car was sold until 1980. I would want to see the 1983 model though.
While the price is up there a bit… try to find one in this nice of condition again! It doesn’t interest me, but I am quite impressed by it and would for sure spend some time looking at it if it showed up at a show I was at.
Ian, when you say try to find one, there has to be somebody that wants to find one and what do you do with it after you do find it?
People laughed at these and Geo Metros, but both were gold when gas was pushing $5 a gallon.
I had a couple of these at in 1991-92. Wanna say they were 1988 or 1989 models. One my dad gave me if I could get it running. Drove that thing pretty hard at times and saw nowhere near thirty yet alone forty mpg. 20 mpg was about it. Got the same mileage as my 429 Fairlane and it was pretty quick for a little car. Did a good job keeping up with the RX-7s of that time. Didn’t win the race but was enough to keep things interesting. Sold them off when the carbs caught fire and was moving residences at the time. Broke even on each.
I had 2 Festivas a 1989 and 1991. Built by Kia. Mazda power train. Almost indestructible.
I’d be inclined to believe a claim of 19,000 miles. The cleanliness outside, inside, and under the hood is simply remarkable. I can’t imagine anybody restoring one of these to this level, and they weren’t built to survive 119,000 miles in this condition.
I usually don’t comment on price as everyone has their ideas on what their car is worth but this one? Whoa!!
In 1993 my aunt bought a 92 festiva demo with about the same mileage, factory warranty for $7000 and they gave her trade in off
that for her 84 Chevette.
Just say no🤐
An ex-roommate in Chicago bought one of these brand new in 1989 or 1990. He forgot where he parked it after one drunken and wild night in the mid-1990s (Chicago’s heyday IMO) and he never saw it again. The theory is it got towed by the City. It had all his HS yearbooks in it unfortunately.
10k? uhmmmmmmm no way! This is a throw away car once someone starts to drive it as daily driver, will fall apart soon there after.
I had a Festiva when I was commuting an hour to work. Decent little car, and actually fun to drive. I drove all state highways to work, and averaged 42 mpg. It had a dealer add on a/c unit that was broken a lot.
You laugh about such a lowly car that nobody would love….but at the big Arthritis car show in Columbus a few years back, I drove my ’75 2002 to the BMW section on the expansive grounds. They put the BMWs next to the Yugo section. Amazingly, there were just 4 of us with vintage BMWs, but the Yugo guys came out in force, with probably 10 cars, including some convertibles. It put us BMW guys to shame.
SO, as lowly as the Festiva may seem, I am sure it has a loyal following, and probably it deserves it for it’s simple and reliable utility.
Our late uncle put over 100K miles on one and only replaced the shocks. Consistently got over 40MPG. Passed away last year and the car was sold for $1500.00, running and in good condition. He loved that car. 10K, no way, ever.
My wife purchased a Festiva new; she put over 100,000 miles on it with no major problems. After the 100k miles I had to replace the clutch. The Festiva got amazing gas mileage but alas my wife hit a Chevy 4 wheel drive truck that pulled out in front of her. It wasn’t her fault but she still required hip replacement surgery and the Festiva was no more!
I burned through 2 of these getting over 180,000 miles on each commuting from Hemet to Long Beach, CA everyday. The first was a stripped down L model like this one with no AC and no rear window wiper. The second one was a GL with both amenities and not a totally bad car. Both were 5 speeds and yes, going down hill with a tail wind I would average nearly 50 mpg, but without airbags/SRS system, car insurance became quite a costly proposition, even with a perfect driving record. When new these cars cost were around $5k each. $10k for a car with such an incredibly low survivability rate in any accident (front, rear or side impact) is a fools errand.
That’s a very long commute, isn’t it?
My wife was driving a maroon 88 Festiva L when I met her in the early 90s. I did a bunch of work on that car and it was good at what it did. 1.3L IIRC and 88 was the last year for a carburetor. The big drawbacks were a 4-speed transmission (no overdive) and lack of a RH outside rearview mirror. Not great for keeping up with PA Turnpike traffic but the engine did stay together. I tried to get a RH outside mirror but I think the only cars that had them were LX models and I never did find a wrecked one. Thanks for the memories but $10k? LOL No way.
Designed by Mazda in Japan, built by KIA in Korea, badged and sold by Ford in the US. Quite cosmopolitan, wouldn’t you say?
For less money, you get a lot more car & nicer interior with the “museum condition” front drive Buick Regal listed elsewhere on this site (tho both cars seem to have non yellowing GLASS covered headlites!).
This lil Ford could be considered museum quality as well & probably should be used sparingly. Tiny door armrests maybe mounted a bit too high.
Luxury should be lived in…
Up here in the northeast, NAPA auto parts used to use these as parts runners. They had big yellow baseball hats mounted to the roof with the NAPA logo on them. Many shops ran them up to over 300,000 miles. I had two very used ones. They were perky enough, nimble as hell, 12” tires and all the rest of their parts were dirt cheap. If you folded down the back seat they had a surprising amount of cargo space too. It seemed like the harder you beat em, the better they ran. I’d drive one today as a commuter but up here in the rust belt, almost anything over 20 years old is pretty scarce. But yeah, that price shocks me right out of my sentimental journey!
Nice little toy but 10K? C’mon.
I has a red one of these in 1982. I sold my 1974 Dodge Dart Convertriple 318 with aftermarket duel exhaust and 4bbl to buy the Festiva so I could commute to my new “adult job”.
1st month I was driving up 95 north past The Maryland House when she started bucking and stalled in the middle of I95. Come to find out the gas gauge was bad. Not fun with cars zooming by.
Frank, what country do you live in?
USA. Why do you ask?
Well because this car didn’t exist in 1982 and there was never a Dart convertible in 1974.
I thought you were from Brasil or something.
Years ago I had a small used car lot. I bought a 10 pack of cars from a friendly car dealer in another town. 2 of the cars were Festivas, both dark red. One stick & one automatic.
My brother went to help me move the cars to my lot from where I bought them. He drove one of these back and decided he liked it enough to buy it from me. He ended up buying both. He drove them for years, claiming an average of 45 mpg on the highway with the stick shift one. I couldn’t stand the cars, but he was happy with them. I was just grateful to not have them on my lot.
He paid $500 for both of them.
I bought one at an auction in Riverside and got a call late that day that my friends niece was being born.
We ran that car at top speed back to Vegas up and down the hills coming down into Nevada and the car performed very well.
Another friend had one and his engine went out. He bought a Japanese pull out and I helped him change his engine, with no engine hoist, it wasn’t needed. We changed the engine in an afternoon.
it is too bad cars are so complicated today that people can’t have experiences like that any more.
Reserve was not met at a high bid of $4,975.
Who is this seller trying to kid beside themselves.
Bought one for my daughter, it was in excellent condition paid $2000 for it in 2004, it was a great little car. When she sold it I was tempted to do a power train swap to a larger turbo charged mazda motor. Would have been fun.
Tired to kill the engine In these for a good few years in the rental pool. 1st gear tached our for a mile plus , nope. Tried to kill these every chance we got. Horribly slow, noisy tin can. The Metro’s were so much better quality wise of build, yet equally slow as sin. Used to do pirouettes in the snow / ebrake down the lot.. so much fun beating the living hell out of them. The little Tercel though of its day, well they didn’t fair as well with the slam the gear lever down and tach the engine on the highway as the Fiesta or the Metro… blew three head gaskets on those … puffed those little crappers onto the lot and let them sizzle in park. White thick clouds of joy behind the pipes…. Covered under warranty. Next up we’re the Mazda Protege’s… another story for another day.
Miguel I bought it used in 1982. And I had a Dodge Dart Convertriple. ( not convertible). Had the crank sunroof and fold down back seats. It was called a Convertriple
Mazda 121 anybody??
When these came out they were the only Ford branded car which got a best buy recommendation by Consumer Reports.I know they were sold as a Mazda 121, but I believe they were built by KIA. Even back then they were selling cars in North America.