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.