The Ford Escort replaced the Pinto in the U.S. subcompact market. The Fiesta and the Festiva were soon in mix, too. The Festiva was a South Korean-built car sold between 1986 and 2002. It was a simple little auto with a small engine that was good on gasoline and was great for commuting. The seller has a 1990 Festiva for sale, which in itself isn’t so interesting. But what is interesting is that he’s a Festiva collector, having owned 24 of them over the years. And his entire parts collection goes with this car, located in Huntsville, Alabama. All of it can be yours for $6,000 here on craigslist.
Festivas were produced by Kia under license from Mazda and marketed by Ford, so the car was a global initiative of sorts. The primary markets were North America, Japan, and Australasia. The car was called the Kia Pride on its home turf and found its way to the States in the mid-1980s. It used a 1.3-liter 4-banger and either a 4 or 5-speed manual transmission. The cars got a facelift in 1990, the year the seller’s car was built. The listing posted by the seller suggests that more than one car may go with the deal, though just one is photographed.
The seller is a bit of a grouch. Though he posts the listing on a platform that everyone on earth can see, he only wants to hear from car club members or fellow Festiva fans/owners. But there are other rules. No text messages, or you will be blocked. The price is whatever he says it is. Do not send any email messages (so how are you going to reach him?). And he needs no advice about Festivas. So, if you’re looking to add another Festiva to your family, what do you think of this one? And thanks go to Jack M. for this tip!
Keep it. These were the junk ones.
My wife and I had an ’88 base model in silver. Just a 4 speed, not even a 5 speed. Truth be told, it desperately needed that 5th gear. But other than that, these little cars are tougher than they look. The hard part back in the early 90’s was finding those tiny 12 inch tires. Sears used to have them, so thats the route we went. Other than that, you couldn’t kill these things. It was the first time I had ever heard of Kia. And truth be told, the old saying about how fun it is driving a slow car fast, could absolutely be applied to these. Yes, they were inexpensive. But they got the job done. Day in, day out. Thank you for writing this little buggy up Russ and bringing back great memories of the first years of our married life.
The Fiesta did not replace the Pinto. They were both available in the mid to late 70s, and the last year for both was 1980. The Festiva didn’t show up for another 6 years.
Regardless of what kind of car this guy is selling, he’s unlikely to sell it with such a nasty attitude. If I were interested in finding a Festiva, I’d keep looking. He only shows 3 pictures, doesn’t tell much about the car, and still doesn’t want anyone asking questions. Must live a miserable life.
He does seem kind of crabby.
In all fairness, Russ said that the Escort replaced the Pinto.
Well here is a car with the I don’t want to sell it price, only time this car was worth $6k was when it sold new, now with 200,000 miles I wouldn’t pay $600 bucks for it good luck to the seller.
Well, the seller is getting out of the Festiva business, so all of his parts go with this one too.
What is strange is that he is selling it on CL at all. He has a specific group of buyers in mind, so why not reach directly out to them, instead of sounding like an unreasonable old codger.
They were fun cars to drive. My aunt’s last car was a 1992 festiva in racing red with silver stripes.
Felt like I was driving a go cart with roll up windows.
Same here. I enjoyed running through the gears. Even though it was only 63 pavement ripping horsepower ( what I used to jokingly tell people) its a light car and moved out really well for what it was. Definitely like a go cart.
Come for the car-stay for the promising new friendship!
This seller already got great value from his Festiva 💁♂️ 200,000 miles wow.
I agree Stan. My in-laws had two identical ’88 Festivas one of which they gave to us when we got married. They still had the newspaper ad for the one they bought used around 1990 for $3900 from the local Ford dealer. I’d say this seller got their moneys worth. My Father in law who was 6’3 and over 300 pounds used them as commuter cars and they held up very well. Never let them or us down.
The Festiva was actually a very well built, reliable car. Some of them went 250K miles or more with regular maintenance.
I guess if you are a Ford person, you got a Festiva. If a Chevy person, a Geo Metro was what you bought.
are they kidding 6k? be lucky to get 600.00. even that’s too much
I managed to burn thru 3 Festiva’s commuting daily for 12 years or so from Hemet, CA down the 91 freeway to Los Alamitos and back. I had the 5-speed in all 3 and 1 was equipped with AC which acted like a “TURBO” button when you turned they system off at speed. Never paid more than $3900.00 for any of them and they all got great gas mileage and were nearly bullet proof but the insurance was quite high without air bags. If I’m honest I will confess I prayed a lot for accident avoidance and protection as I knew in my heart if I wrecked in that traffic, at speed, it would likely require a can opener to get all of the meat out of what was left. I was grateful for the cars but equally grateful when I could afford a more sturdy vehicle and a job closer to home.
Terrible attitude. It will bite him in the butt as he’s likely to get no response to his ad.
My first new car was a 1988 Festiva bought at Ramsey Sterman Ford in Pittsburgh. It was the luxurious LX with 5-speed, tilt wheel, reclining seats, power mirrors and other niceties for the princely sum of $6500. I drove that car up and down the East coast from Canada to Key West and all points between. It was fun to drive, got 40 MPG, was cheap to run and never let me down. I wouldn’t hesitate to own another one, although not this one.
I know most Americans hate small cars because they don’t flatter their image or something like that, but I love basic cars that get the job done without pretense.
I currently have a 1986 Escort coupe with a four speed and 46k miles on it, pure bliss.
If your Escort is white, then you have to meet Charles Atlas, a BFer who loves his ’86 white Escort manual.
In Japan,you could get one of these with a factory twin cam.
I have an article around here (someplace) from Autoweek when
the car was coming out.
I owned a Fiesta Sport,& test drove a Festiva when they were
new,and was very disappointed in it.It understeered horribly.
My friend bought one of these brand new in 1988. He forgot where he parked it after a wild drunken night in Chicago’s legendary bar scene in the early 1990s and it was never seen again. He was mostly upset because his high school yearbooks were still inside, not so much over the car lol!
Had an ’88 as my daily commuter around Cali in 1993. Paid $800 for a 5 year old car with faded red paint, but some polishing compound and a buffer brought back the sheen. Had an especially fun trip into Baja Mexico for a weekend fest in Rosarita where this was the perfect car for those rough coastal roads. The 5-speed allowed 80 mph cruising and the mechanicals are generally unbreakable. This car in great, low-mile condition today should never bring more than $3500. Ever.