Some of us have vehicles that we have had in storage for a long time, maybe years. Sometimes, decades. That’s the case with this 29,000-mile 1977 Ford Fiesta which has been in storage for over three decades. It can be found here on eBay in Cabazon, California. The current bid price is $2,559 and the reserve isn’t met yet.
Cap’n Obvious says that the right front fender and hood appear to be a little darker than the rest of the panels are. Maybe they just faded at a different rate? It sounds like it was driven for 29,000 miles over a 12-13-year period so that’s more than enough time for something to have happened. I’m not quite sure what’s going there. The Fiesta was a true Heinz-57 car, they had engineering help from Germany and they were made in France and Spain and assembled in the UK and Spain.
The Fiesta was Ford’s world car and they were actually good cars, at least as city cars – maybe not as all-day freeway cruisers. You can see a small ding just below the C-pillar in the photo above. Other than that and the mismatched paint on the passenger side and some marks on the front of the hood, I don’t see any flaws in the body of this car. The seller doesn’t give us much info on it other than it was kept inside a storage unit for over 30 years and was hardly driven.
This car looks pretty much like new inside, but with a few decades worth of not being cleaned regularly. Not that my wife cleans her car regularly, or at all. I can’t imagine what her car would look like inside if I didn’t shovel the debris out of it periodically. This Fiesta has some old clear plastic seat covers which is pretty interesting to see. I’ve never seen them on an economy car before. I wonder if the next owner will leave those cracked seat covers on or not? The driver’s seat needs help, hopefully that black and white houndstooth fabric can be matched somehow. The back seat looks like new.
This is a Ford-Kent 1.6L inline-four with around 66 hp and the seller says that it runs and drives and the AC still works. This looks like quite a little time capsule, have any of you owned a Ford Fiesta?
I’ve had a lot of Fiestas over the years.Bought a ’79 Sport
model new,& raced it in SCCA Showroom Stock.I got more trophies
with that car than any other I’ve owned.It was the best car I’ve ever
owned,as it did almost everything well,& could get up to 53 mpg on
the freeway (@ 60 mph).
This is a Decor model,the next step up from the Base model.
It also has A/C,which was dealer added,& made it an absolute pain to
do many repairs under the hood on.
That’s a crazy coincidence, Angliagt!
My younger brother asked me to co-sign on his first new car, a metallic blue ‘79 S model.
One Sunday afternoon I was out for a motorcycle ride and saw our car at the Centennial Coliseum in Reno tearing around a bunch of cones in the parking lot (Reno SCCA Autocross).. I ripped into the parking area weaving through an assortment of sports cars and race machines then yelled “what are you doing??!!?” He said “Good enough for 1st place, that’s what I’m doing!!” (In his class but I didn’t know that at the time).
We went on to race together for a few years as the Davis Brothers Race Team and took home many wins. It was fun to shame good high dollar cars with mediocre drivers in a stock econobox!!
I owned a ’78 Sport Deluxe. Yellow with a black stripe. I knew it was the deluxe model because it had a glove box door! Great fun to drive. Great mileage too. I wrecked mine in to a 12″ curb that took out two tires, two wheels and the transmission. :(
Fiestas came in four different models –
BASE – The stripper model.Body color on the bottom sides,
no glove box door,different interior door trim.Black
outside driver’s mirror.4″ wide wheels.
DECOR – Same as Base,but had a glove box door,but better
interior trim.Chrome outside driver’s mirror.Lower
bottom sides were painted Black.4″ wide wheels.
SPORT – Better interior trim,tachometer,Recaro seats,rear sway
bar,4.5″ wide wheels.’78’s had chrome outside driver’s-
mirror,& were painted Black along the side windows.
1979/80 had Black outside driver’s mirror.All Sports
came with the bottom sides painted Black.
My ’79 SSC weighed about 1775 pounds.
GHIA – Velour seats,lots of sound deadening,Chrome outside
driver’s mirror.These were heavy – aprox. 2050 pounds.
The mounting points for the rear factory sway bar were
were on every one,so you could easily add them to any
other model.
The ’78/’79’s had a u-shaped rear Panhard rod,which
ended up bending on many cars.The ’80’s had a tubular
one,which didn’t.
All of this is off the top of my head.
My 79 was lime green sport all original I bought it from the original owner for $175 bucks in 1996. The fuel pump was bad. But mine had the black sport strip and mirrors but bottom was not black. And it was 100% original. I still have pics of it. Great car I should have kept it.
I did the same thing to mine Silver S Model Beauty two tires/rims, front suspension, ripped out the trany cradle and shift linkage too, Cant believe the frame was fine, had to walk to work all winter until junk yards thawed, (tons of snow that year) so i could gather all the parts to fix her up as good as knew. John S.
I remember a friend of mine in HS had one of these. Great handling and reliable car compared to any of my other friends that were stuck with toyota/honda/nissans rust buckets.
I rented one of these in 1979 while I was in the Army in Germany.Took it from Germany to Venice Italy and back through the mountains, it was a blast to drive.My parents bought one and had it for 20 years but it always had a little grind going from first into second gear. Went to the shop with it several times but were never able to get rid of it.It ran great and they finally sold it to a guy who still has it.
If you’re still in touch with the fellow to whom you sold your car, pass along our inline clubs for them:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1065166536927064/
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/US_Fiesta_Enthusiasts/info
As a throwaway car, these are now impossible to find and there are more than enough nostalgic collectors looking as evidenced by the bidding. Last time I even saw one for sale locally was over 15 years ago.
I don’t miss them 😂 because they had all the design of a tin can or box with wheels.
But everyone has their obscure car to collect.
Lil humor with Fiesta 😏
Best cheesy first..
I left my Adderall in my Ford Fiesta,
It is now a Ford Focus. 😂🤣😅😆
What do you call a party car driven by Harrison Ford?
A Ford Fiesta. 😉
What do you call a Ford Fiesta that won’t start?
A Ford Siesta 😅😼
An Italian man who drives a new Ferrari is married to his American spouse who drives a little Ford US car. They’ve been having financial problems, but the car wants to do something special for their new Hispanic neighbors. The car asks “How about we throw them a party?”
To which the Italian man responds with “No”
“Why Not?” says the car spouse
The Italian man says “Because we just can’t a-ford-a Fiesta
Fiestas disappeared quickly from American roads because of Ford’s serial practice of orphaning their imports. Like Cortinas and Capris before them, and Merkurs after them, the lack of parts availability in the days before the internet shafted the owners and doomed most of the cars.
I bought the last Fiesta on the lot in 1979 and the dealer was happy to let it go at a great price. Lime green, sunroof, AC and it was a kick to drive. I used it as my airport, errand and just fun to drive car. Great gas mileage and it handled fairly well. My buddy in the neighborhood bought it when I transferred and drove it for another 15 or so years. I have been looking for a good one to restore. Best bang for the buck car I ever owned.
Mark,
We trade a lot of information about 78-80 cars we see for sale, as well as trade parts, in our online clubs for them:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1065166536927064/
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/US_Fiesta_Enthusiasts/info
Join up and I bet we can help you find that perfect candidate.
I had a yellow one. I’d get 25 mpg, and if I turned the AC on, it went down to 20 mpg! Parts got hard to find. Local junkyard only had 3, and I went through all 3 to get one good radiator. It was a fun car! Lots of room inside, considering how small it was. Engine was always reliable.
I owned a 1980 base model Fiesta, red on red, that I thought looked pretty good for such a no frills car. These cars where actually quite quick though the bar was a lot lower 40 years ago. Yet, I would not be surprised if this car could easily keep up with many NON turbocharged 4 cylinder powered cars available today.
Mechanically, their 2 biggest flaws were no automatic transmission (just a 4 speed manual transmission), and as already pointed out: these cars were not engineered for A/C.
Mine new, cost all of $5,000. I wouldn’t pay more than that for this one, due in large part to the lightly flawed condition that the repaint may be hiding. Many cars with McPherson strut front suspension designs in the 70s-80s easily developed alignment issues.
BTW, it is now possible to transplant a 5 speed from a newer FWD Ford into a Fiesta, as well as a newer Ford engine.
“The Fiesta was a true Heinz-57 car, they had engineering help from Germany and they were made in France and Spain and assembled in the UK and Spain.”
Every MK1 Fiesta sold new in the states was made in Cologne West Germany. I don’t think they were ever made in France.I bought one new and still have one.
As far as I know, the only Ford factory in France at the time of the Fiesta was one manufacturing gearboxes. It was shut down last October. The last Ford cars produced in France were the Trianon/Versailles/Régence family taken over by Simca, and rebadged as such, in December 1954. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simca_Vedette
Here in Europe we got the MkI Fiesta in lots of different guises from basic ‘Popular’ spec through L, GL, luxury ‘Ghia’, the 1300S and the ultimate sporty XR2. AND the Fiesta is still going strong more than 40 years on and in its 7th or 8th generation.
I learnt to drive in a MkI and it was a hoot to drive. One of THE great Fords!
As a footnote, Fiesta production has now ceased after almost fifty years.
RIP Fiesta!
Ha! I think I paid $75.00 for mine very well used. Hated gas. But I had to put oil and brake fluid in as well at every fuel up. The brake fluid was understandable because of the crimped off line to the rear brakes that were cheaper to disable than repair. I had more respect for adventure than safety back then. Really loved it though despite its hard life downfalls. I knew they had a racing circuit for these and as such a lot of aftermarket parts were available. Everyone mistook it for a VW rabbit. I’d love to have one this fresh. A lot of fun to zip around town in. Easy parking too haha
My dad had one of these, a ’77 as well. His was a dark maroon color. He did not have a/c, but did have a sunroof (both glass and metal panel) and rear defroster. I learned to drive in it actually, and it was fun to drive. He kept it until ’82, traded it for a Mercury Lynx, which he then later gave to me. The Lynx had a/c, and in Middle TN you got to have it in the summer.. Nice memory on this Fiesta, thanks for posting.
GTYATES, I also learned how to drive in one of these, an ‘80 Ghia that my father later gave me. I really loved driving it and have fond memories… I hope this one gets a good home. I saw someone complain about the styling, I loved the way it looked. Mine was red with a sunroof. I could buy new Michelins for it for $33 each…
Enough said…
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/videos/a28945/ford-festiva-shogun-jay-leno/
Compared to the other little bleep boxes available during its time such as the Chevrolet Chevette, Ford Pinto, Honda Civic, Toyota Starlet, and Dodge Omni, these were actually pretty good. Probably the best choice of those, at least from a driving perspective. The VW Rabbit and Honda Accord would have been a step up but were bigger and cost more.
Regardless they didn’t seem to last very long. I think they were pretty much entirely extinct by the dawn of the 1990s. I haven’t seen one in years.
It would be fun to build an XR2 tribute. Would it be possible?
It is possible. Might be pricey, but possible.
Our online clubs for them can help you find sources for XR/2 bits.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1065166536927064/
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/US_Fiesta_Enthusiasts/info
Marc,
I tried to log in,but couldn’t get to the actual website.
I guess we can let the phony “vent” window in each door “slide”, because this is an entry level car, but then again, so was the pinto, gremlin, & vega. & they all had full door roll down glass.
Cute car. Good bumpers.
The Ghia had operable vent windows.
Were those trim levels available in the US as well as Europe? I’m trying to recall what features my ’78 did/didn’t have
…
145/70-12’s!
Who remembers the B.A.T. “performance” catalog for these bad boys? Ohhhh….. My 17 yo self LUSTED on that catalog’s offerings.
Believe it or not, the company is still around, although they’ve mostly moved on from the Fiesta and have branched out into other stuff.
You can download the last edition of the BAT catalog on their archived Fiesta page:
http://batford.net/fiesta.htm
They still have a few Fiesta bits and pieces laying around, too.
I owned a couple of Fiestas when I was younger and loved them. First one I beat the daylights out of it including jumping a couple of times. Had it up to 50 mph in first gear and couldn’t blow the motor. It eventually became a donor parts car for my second Fiesta which I painted peptobismal pink with lime green trim.
I eventually was turned onto Volkwagen Rabbits (and Volkswagens in general) but I wouldnt hesitate to get another Fiesta if I ever came across another on the cheap.
new one in ’78 took us (4 250 lb college students) from grad school in WVA to a school study in NYC. Kinda tight but 1,000 lbs of meat hauled safely 380 mi, 6, 7 hrs one way…& back to give a presentation to the class.
Had fun in The City, didn’t wanna stuff back in for the home trip tho…
I owned one of these, and loved it! Tiny wheels, great mileage, ran great! I’d probably still own it, but lost it in a divorce… along with my house, undershorts, alas, that was several decades ago. But I just may save up my pennies and buy another one. Great little car!
Dave,
Do it!
We trade a lot of information about 78-80 cars we see for sale, as well as trade parts, in our online clubs for them:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1065166536927064/
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/US_Fiesta_Enthusiasts/info
Join up and I bet we can help you find that perfect candidate.
Before we were married, my wife drove a Fiesta. (I don’t know what year but pretty sure it was the no-frills base model.) Purchased new, it was her first car on her own. I see most everyone here loved theirs and would happily drive another. I didn’t care for it much, though. I thought it was lame compared to my Toyota Tercel SR5. The Fiesta, I thought, was made of tin foil and thin plastic. It was an ugly sort of dark copper or bronze color. The wheels were like office-chair castors. The doors were so thin I thought I might dent the outside sheet metal from inside the car! And the performance was sub, sub-par. I did not know then about the Fiesta’s European pedigree. But in retrospect, I was not impressed. It was a roller skate, and not the class act others here have described, IMHO. Just sayin’.
To each his own. It almost was as you described but I loved it, roller skating was a kick in the butt.
Obviously made an impression on you. I ditched a OC Sheriff with mine in the hills of North Tustin.
After the Gulf War, we moved back to Germany. The money we got from selling my 4 year old Nissan Sentra, was wasted on a 1983 Ford Fiesta! My wife bought it behind my back! It was a German model, which had the 1.0 engine that made a whopping 39 horses. I’ve never been as pissed as I was then! But guess what? That was a very dependable car! Started every time! We had it 5 long, slow agonizing years, then we sold it to a friend who lived about 100 miles away from us. I made my wife drive it on delivery day! From that day forward, I’ve never taken wives with me when purchasing a vehicle. When they see it, it’s a done deal!
My dad bought a <1 year old silver '78 Decor model for me as a HS graduation gift in '79. It had under 5k miles, equipped with A/C. I think he paid $3,675. What a blast to drive when it ran. Constant problems with the carburetor. A/C put the temp needle right on Hot (in the Las Vegas summertime). But what fun in the corners – like it was on a tether! Gear shift lever snapped off 2" from the floor. Drove with vice grips on the stub until a buddy and I installed a whole shift linkage assembly from a wrecked junker. Drove it a couple years during college, then had to trade it on a '79 Accord LX to get a reliable vehicle with good A/C. Most of my buddies had early 70's Mopars. They loved the Fiesta. Great "Party Car"! Thanks for the memories, Pop!