Meet the XR2's dad - Ford Fiesta SuperSport goes for a drive

Everyone knows the Ford Fiesta XR2 but Ford had been doing hot Fiestas for a few years already - the 1.3 Fiesta Super Sport is the now rare hot hatch predecessor, lets take a look!
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[@ThePstorm]

"Trying to keep it as original as possible"... Roll cage, lowered suspension, additional spotlights, engine mods, Peco exhaust, rear strut brace, wrong side stripe.... 😉

[@markf4720]

Authentic perhaps a better word, but back in the 80s and 90s these cars more often than not had those or similar mods!

[@Zadster]

Maybe not standard from the dealer, but that's relatively normal spec in this car by 1983! I'd have kept the original ride height though, given traffic calming, pot-holes etc.

[@another3997]

I bet the rust is still standard. 😉

[@neilwalsh4058]

Typical Ford owner, they can't resist modifying them. Basically because they weren't good enough in the first place

[@RUfromthe40s]

@@markf4720 they had them all except the roll cage since late 60´s that i know off ,had a 68 taunus RS 1600 coupé ,two extra yellow lights in the front grill RS steering wheel rallye wheels ,iron not alloy, red with black vinil top, in the 80´s all except the roll cage and alloy wheels or special hard plastic caps resembling a one point of fixation, in white pearl colour, i was a rally driver till mid 80´s and had a 80´s escort RS2000 rallye car, not transformed ,sold for the purpose or all would break

[@Decrepit_biker]

My first car in 1994 was a 1300 supersport! It was red just like this one, but was on the XR2 pepper pots to "upgrade" it a bit and had the 2 up 2 down rally giant spotters on it, as Cibies were out of my budget. I was exactly that teenage lad you mentioned and I mercilessly ragged it to death... oh how I regret that 30 years later 😅😅 I felt so nostalgic watching this.

[@markf4720]

I'd love one of these. I've got a soft spot for Mk1s, more so than any other generation of Fiesta. Something about the simplicity and pureness of the original design. Mk2s always felt like more of a facelift (externally) to me.

[@stuartcarson9378]

One of my first cars was a green Fiesta S in green with green tartan seats. Somebody before me had replaced the gearbox with an 850 version and while it was killer off the lights it only pulled 91 MPH. I half killed that car and had so much fun running against Golf GTI's. It was fucked when I sold it but I would see it for years after touring around north London. This is my childhood.

[@marklawton5753]

I have never been a fan of Fords, but you have to hand it to them they sure knew their market and what that market wanted. With decals which made it look more beefy than it actually was, no wonder they were so popular at the time. Ford sure knew how to make it products visually appealing.

[@Bob-nu3xe]

crap cars marketed well yep

[@ivanfernyhough3851]

​@@Bob-nu3xewhat crap cars did you used to drive around in then?

[@malcolmlane-ley2044]

@@Bob-nu3xe I think that's very harsh but maybe you weren't there at the time they were new so can't remember the market and atmosphere of the time? The Mk2 XR2 I bought my wife in 1988 was certainly impressive amongst its peers; maybe not as fast as the 205Gti but with much less flimsy plastic. Remember (or research) Ford was the market leader in small cars at that time and always had to play to a wide audience.

[@mattylamb9194]

Yeah - I think these mk1 Fiestas are fine looking cars

[@jonnygti]

Brings back memories of me being a little boy, in the back of my sisters boyfriends XR2, going very fast over a bridge near us, I hit my head on the roof liner of the car😂. Then going round country roads at what seemed like 100mph. In reality it was probably 60/70 mph, but back then when you were a little 10 year old boy, and your parents owned 1.1 or 1.4 engined family cars, it seemed properly rapid 😁

[@itk2493]

I remember thumbing a lift home from school when this white Escort RS Turbo raced past us, they'd only just come on the market. The fella wizzed past us, slammed on his brakes, stuck it in reverse wound down his window and said, 'wanna lift mate'? I jumped in and he showed me what he new RS could do, I'll never forget that white lightning experience.😂 Thanks for the memories man, that guy must be about 80 years old now.

[@steveminney8248]

Matt love your commentary especially the throw back comments " ashtray in the back incase the kids wanted a cigarette on the way to school after all this was the 70s" absolutely cracked me up ....your vids just get better and better.....Great car by the way

[@andrewsimpson718]

Our Dad had one white one :-) fabulous little car and you are correct to say enough power good set up and that’s all you need ! Great review thank you

[@AJT296]

What a great little car. Looks and sounds like a miniature touring car. Proof that it’s not ultimate speed but the sensation of speed that makes it fun

[@anthonystevens8683]

I drove a few MK1 Fiesta cars in the 80's and they were all fun from the poverty spec to the GL and they were brilliant cars to drive I don't recall driving a 1.3 though but as you mention this car was not all about all out power. I did own a MK4 (curvy shape) for a bit with the 1.25 lump and that was crazy fun, mine was a base model with some 'special' addition extras that was a sunroof and metallic 'pepper red' paint if I recall. One of the few small cars that had a noticeable power band in the late 90's. Many thanks for sharing as this brings back some fond memories from my days in the 80's.

[@nekite1]

I had a Mk1 1.3 Fiesta Ghia in Roman Bronze - lovely little car which I bought second hand and could have sold it the next day for a handsome profit.

[@tug1345]

Hi Matt, great video, great car, I'm of the opinion that car tax should be based on weight, so starting at £100 for cars 999kgs and below, going up £25 for every 250kgs , I believe it to be a much fairer system, it means everyone pays something, rather than the rich pay nothing and poorer people with older cars paying the most as it is now, what do you think of my suggestion

[@anticat900]

Sort of but you can't make lightweight cars now and adhere to eu crash regulations. The first Dacia in 2013 was the cheapest and lightest car made to these regs

[@tug1345]

@anticat900 there's quite a few cars below 999kgs, 2014 Mazda 2, all Suzuki Swifts, any that weigh between 1000kgs to 1249kgs will only be paying £125

[@anticat900]

@@tug1345 I take that back i assumed by the time thicker steels, airbags proper crash protection was in place ot would take you over a ton. But both are good drivers cars and safe, i even had a mk1 swift 🙂 though that thing did feel it was made from paper mashe . The original base Dacia from 2014 was 1050kg.

[@seancooke7332]

The fantastically simple and honest TV Advert for the Ford Fiesta Super Sport showed it driving along a quiet twisty road with the line," Shortens straights. Straightens bends," genius really. No Portals into Fantasy Worlds, no Ella McPherson in the front, no Steve McQueen photo shops, no weird Almera that they don't want you to drive. In short, no nonsense. Funny you mention they body colour along with door top. That's exactly where my Mum's 1977 Regency Green 950 L started to rust on the inside below the quarter light at 4 years old. The 1300 Kent does sound good though.

[@Android-vk8yh]

I had one of these. It was basically my first car in 1987. I loved it. The sound was amazing. Reliability not so great. I had to bump start it to get to work , carbs used to, when they finally opened I made out it was a turbo but I loved it. I'd still have one today if I could in a collection.

[@SpeedIng80]

My mother had a 1.1S when I was born in 1980, until it was replaced by a very late MKII in 1989. The 1.1S with 53hp was great, it even had a rev meter, and the dark blue paint with the red S-stripes looked awesome in hindsight.

[@DeGlennen]

Lovely little thing. You can also really see certain styling queues Ford also used shortly after on the mk3 Escort XR3, to make look and feel sporty.

[@iainwilliams4226]

Love this! Thanks for re-igniting fond memories of hooning around in a white one of these with modified exhaust in north Manchester back in the early 90s 🤟😻

[@RealAndyB]

Owned mine for 30 years now , great fun, like a road legal go kart. Pretty rare cars, especially with a factory metal sunroof panel 😉

[@ElgiNDuffeR]

Love it! You must come and drive my mk1 1.3 Ghia Matt

[@neilbucknell9564]

Hi Matt - something's gone wrong with the edit - the bit about the dash etc has been repeated. Enjoyed it though - as you say - they should bring back cars like this - memories of my MG Metro.....

[@furiousdriving]

theres a keystroke that puts another copy of the last clip into the timeline, and that dropped in...its being removed now...

[@Phiyedough]

I had one back in the day and it was an infinitely better car than the Mini 1275GT that I had before it. One thing you didn't mention is the pressure washers for the headlamps. The jets for those were built into the bumper over-riders and there was a huge cube shape tank for the washer water. I did fit a stage 2 1600 engine, 5 speed gearbox, vented discs and a big bore exhaust but sadly the car then got stolen and was recovered stripped. Those RS wheels made them a target for such crime.

[@ianfrost3529]

Always loved the look of the super sport went to look at but was really ropey. And after my mini 1275gt I looked a little more carefully but I bought a really low mileage allegro 1750equipe which was replaced with a XR3 mk1 astra gte then mg maestro 2.0efi then a Porsche 924. Early to mid 90s were great most expensive car was £400 which was the Astra

[@davidchristie3913]

My dad bought new in 1981 a ford fiesta supersport black and silver , he always talks about it, sold it few years later , not taxed since 1990 so only can image what happened

[@MrWibble]

Love it! My second car was one of these in that red. Did a handbrake turn to get into our driveway & ended up hitting the curb - smashed wheel, bent rear axle, & inside the boot crumpled! Still never mind - rear axle from the scrappy, new wheel from the classifieds & an acro prop to remove (most of) the crumpling - good as new-ish! Sold it not long after strangely. 😬

[@focusrssteve]

Well done for getting hold of a supersport, always wanted one, but ended up with a mark 2 XR2 in a very similar colour to this one! Cheers for thd memories.

[@Scotts23]

My favourite fiesta of all time absolutely beautiful car

[@ClassicswithRay]

The owner Steve is a nice guy, car is absolutely stunning in person and I'm glad hes apart of our club stand so I'm not the only MK1 Fiesta driver, although I use mine as a daily and the Zodiac as a show car 🚗

[@maxidyne]

Epic little motor! My friend had a blue 1.3 S in the early 90s. Great review Matt 👍

[@dave-huston-dublin]

@ 0:46 Scimitar, I had a few XR2s before moving on to Capri's Great little car.

[@kevingreen8581]

Great video. I had a 1979 base model Fiesta which had a 957cc engine but it also had a weber carb so I could rev it hard. It went really well down the road. It was in pillar box red and really looked good from new. Loved it.

[@davidminns9799]

I had a Supersport in 1986 in sunburst red it was a hoot so light. Oh I wish I still had it!! Had it for 2 years n sold it for a profit 😊

[@stephenwestley1017]

That takes me back to when I was a teenager the battles between the metro 1.3s and the supersport.

[@cdg3818]

"This is where modern cars need to be getting back to. Compact. Lightweight". Indeed Matt, good luck with that though. Check out that Lotus SUV BEV thing...

[@ianstewartorr8455]

I didn’t know they only made 3K wow my mum had an XR2 I had a MK2 escort with twin webers fun fun fun and a big bore exhaust wonderful greetings from Scotland 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@kevinnye5132]

Gosh Matt takes me back to my teens , I had a Mk1 Fiesta in a dark green with a 950cc ? I think 🤔base L model so pretty basic, what a fun little car to drive and yes when it came out it was just so different and really nippy back then , great video Matt 👌🏻.

[@markarrowsmith6928]

Had 5 mk1 fiestas and loved them all especially the white xr2, great little cars👌

[@channex8179]

The second car I ever owned was a black Fiesta 1300 SuperSport with grey/black plaid interior. I paid the princely sum of £80 for it from the Ford wreckers that was across the road from the garage I was working at as an apprentice mechanic in spring 1998. The floor and sills were like swiss cheese and full of holes but the body and paint was like new, It took weeks for me and Darren one of the older mechanics to weld new floor panels into it when we could during lunch and after hours, sadly it suffered an untimely death in winter when I lost control of it in the snow and ice and crashed it into a railway bridge 😢

[@justincork3838]

My first car was a black 1300 super sport! Great car and my first stepping stone onto many fast Fords!

[@sidewayssam]

Absolutely a car of my youth, you could actually build your own supersport, you could but all the parts as extras direct from Ford, it was such a success , that is why the decided to build, it was the x pack

[@kevinwhittingham8384]

My mate had a black one,it looked the part,sadly it didn't go as quick as one expected. He wrung it's neck one time down a steep hill trying to hit the "ton" I was in the front passenger seat and half way down the hill a mustard yellow Datsun 120Y blew past like we where standing still..

[@daddymulk]

Japanese cars for ya 😂

[@thughes52]

Awesome to see a MK1 and wish I owned it Matt thanks for bringing it as drive out info ....👍

[@giuseppelavecchia775]

La fiesta mark 1 e' imbattibile,e' la migliore e la piu bella di tutte le generazioni del modello.gran macchina!!!

[@rumpoh8039]

MK1 XR2 WAS GORGEOUS IN RED

[@williamwales6619]

WELL,WELL,. nice to see yer gettn the picture. I was allowed many years ago to rag one of these round Knockhill Racing circuit. (Dunfermline). From what i can remember it was one of the better Ford (uk) vehicles. Racing suspension on these made them sore on the bum area. Creature comforts were rare but all in all it was built for one purpose and it did it well.. Later.

[@Jon-bx1ij]

Very nice. I remember the TV programme Salvage Hunters Classic Cars featured a silver Supersport a few years ago.

[@markwalters4494]

love these cars i had a black 1 with grey interior and stripes back in 1985

[@scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

Yup i was going to point that out with the bulge on the rear to accomdate the bigger spare wheel. A brilliant little road test on the Fiesta Supersport.

[@trevorcrook2565]

These were around when I had a Renault 5 Gordini (non-turbo). That made 93bhp from its 1.4 litres and got to 60 in just over 9s, so I always thought the Fiesta was a sheep in wolf's clothing. Nice styling though, shame that example has been mucked about, but if it's what the owner wants that's all that matters.

[@MarkSmith-io3qd]

They’re great fun. Swapped mine for a mates Escort Harrier back in the day.

[@TurboTimsWorld]

I had a supersport, white with grey side stripes. I bought it from Lorna Vincent the NH jockey.

[@neilwalsh4058]

That'll be even slower than a standard one with all the extra weight of a cage, spot lamps & bigger exhaust. Thought they were 68 bhp? Still pretty abysmal though when FIAT got 70 bhp out of a 1049cc in the 127 Sport.

[@maestromanification]

Hi Matt, lovely starting point for a car but ruined by stupid additions like the roll cage and non standard graphics The cage is horrible and probably de valued it quite a lot with holes in floor and arches, if the mounting points haven't been strengthend the cage could be a death trap in an accident especially with a fire extinguisher on it which would fly off its mounting in a collision and go god knows where Cheers Russ

[@duncangrainge]

They were light, mostly due to the rust that fell off 18 months after you brought a new one. I did exactly that and the rust cam that soon bloody good car though

[@tonys1636]

I think I'd have mounted the fire extinguisher somewhere easier to grab as one exits and pulled the bonnet release at the same time. That split second can be the difference between having a repairable car or calling the scrap man. The tea shelf ideal.

[@davidrumming4734]

I knew someone vaguely who had one….never imagined it would be a classic & worth money….it had a lot of rust. Generally tho, I wasn’t a big fiesta 1 or 2 fan. Unrefined, very loud (only a single scilencer?), and very sharp clutch. I learned to drive in a mk2 950cc. Never owned one. Mk1 Metro & mk2 rover metro was much nicer…just had an image problem.

[@richardhargrave6082]

My sister's friends boyfriend (Later husband) had a black one and I wanted it, but the insurance was too high, so I ended up with a Hearing Aid Beige 1.1L...

[@RUfromthe40s]

i think it was the 88 had the clock on the bottom of the rearview mirror, i had that center console at home and couldn´t remenber from which i took it

[@anticat900]

Great model i never knew of, i thought it went from 1.3s to xr2. Nut your work will not be complete until you review and drive a 950 popular Fiesta or mk2 1.1 popular Escort. We had 3 in the 80's but hens teeth now being turned into rs copies. No carpet just a plastic bit for your feet for the driver as i remember?

[@Fishman1234.]

Had one in white absolutely loved it

[@RUfromthe40s]

i had several fiestas and still own a 94 2 seat comercial diesel fiesta 1.8L engine ,the XR2 was fine but in 88 bought a 1.4S and later bought a RS, fine litle cars, this ford series was excelent in all models also had a escort RS1600turbo and a XR3i, i colect them or when buying it i kept them, mine had a ford or philips radio cassette player with great quality sound, the original front lights weren´t cibie were slim and only above the front bumper like all fords from the 80´s i had cibies in my escort RS2000 rallye car ,not transformed but bought as a rallye car from Ford as i was a pilot since mid 70´s, only 140km´s/hour ,mine was faster ,or maybe i´m confusing it with the 88 model

[@Farney-gy1qo]

My Friend had a 1300S. He wheelspan off every Traffic tight.

[@Oldspeed86]

Matt that’s right! Auto makers MUST get back to the basics and get it in gear fast!

[@standingbadger]

Would love to see you get your hands on a Nova Sport for a review.

[@nigelcharlton-wright1747]

Wow, my driving instructor had one of them, the first car I ever drove and I didn't enjoy it. Much preferred my Triumph Herald 13/60 (SGH685F), which is still on the road, how did that happen? The lady moved down to Brighton, and took my test in a Ford Escort Mk2 2 door. I was still not impressed with that either!

[@aslandama]

Lovely example, always loved the Mk1.

[@mrfairsthename7470]

My Dad had a lesser Fiesta he took the reigns from My brother who paid finance for it ? , my brother was living modern credit life before millennials embraced it fully [ wierdo's ? ] , it drove really well that car and I remember liking it . Myself I was repairing crashed cars at the time and as we dealt with traders as well who dealt with performance cars i would fix XR2 and super sport and others often , the problem was getting the side decals , I had to hand eye colour match and paint that stuff back on , V annoying at the time extra time in the booth .

[@mrfairsthename7470]

Often I do this comment half way through and you go and make another good point at the end , and I am with you on it , and it was cars need to go back to light weight and narrow tyres , especially electric vehicles not volted 3 tonne monsters . Basic tech just the essential safety stuff , that's actually minimising the amount of recourses and energy used and so on blahh green waffle over .

[@mgtowsoldier8673]

I had a white one with the grey rod stewart interior...imho he has spoilt that with the cibies etc....screwheads on the front spoiler looks naff as well....dread to think what they sell for now..

[@robertwillis4061]

Not sure, in might just be the cameras fisheye lens. But it looks like the steering wheel is upside down. Larger hole to the top.?

[@furiousdriving]

just the lens, its about even

[@jo_clarke1960]

The Supersport was the best and better than the XR2 In my opinion, it delivered plenty and being only 1.3, it was not expected to be any good or quick, which was the standard the XR2 had to live up too. The only 2 models to have the bulge for the spare wheel too. Great little things, going for real strong money now

[@MrBig1gaz]

I had 1.1 ghia !!! In bronze on a y plate , with i still had it !!

[@davidmorris4819]

Interesting steering wheel - not sure in an illusion - but steering wheel centre/shaft looks not to be in the centre of the wheel - just as well they did not put an Allegro square bottom on it as well

[@simonhodgetts6530]

The Supersport was brilliant - I think my favourite mk1 ‘Festa - however, it was to the Golf GTi, what the Allegro Equipe was to the erm…..it was all about the stripes and matt black paint. It was no ball of fire - and (sorry Ford fans), I’d take an MG 1300 Metro over one of these anyday……

[@waynetetley584]

Nice find. Always liked the mk1 supersport. Great video 👍

[@colinburrows4375]

My uncle had the 1300S and I got to drive it sometimes loved it.

[@lesklower7281]

Compact and light do you think that will happen apart from that with this Fiesta less is more

[@fugawiaus]

It’s unfortunate you Brit’s never got our Aussie XR6, XR6 turbo or XR8s.

[@garymorris801]

they were fab in the day great video

[@Bucharestguidedtours]

Lovely Car, great review, best wishes.

[@COMA69BAND]

had a MK1 1.3s back in the day, had the same body kit as well.....got stolen 😢

[@furiousdriving]

That happened alot...

[@ronmccullock1407]

Fantastic road test of the Ford Fiesta Super Sport

[@lukejenkins9341]

I had a mk2 1.4s For first car loved it

[@Loosemechanic1]

didnt the super sport have round headlamps? or was that the XR2?

[@furiousdriving]

That was the XR2

[@crusinclassicslucas6218]

7:51 beep! beep!

[@Ricky-cl5bu]

This was the exact car I had when I was on R plates my first car

[@RUfromthe40s]

i think everyone notice the materials not being only plastic as in late 80´s fords

[@mickles1975]

I always thought they were better looking than the XR2s

[@classics144sportscarschannel]

am always looking at different areas that u are at while ur filming this as live very near yourself.

[@davidsherrick898]

The tea shelf!

[@kingdude3749]

I used to own one , always wished I kept it .

[@michaelfitzpatrick6264]

Why are you suggesting the Fiesta was a Golf competitor that was the XR3, XR3i and the RS1600i ??

[@furiousdriving]

because it was the main hot hatch rival in 1980, the XR3 didnt exist yet, never mind the others

[@rulebritannia1553]

Nice car!!!! Thanks 🙏 from Australia 🇦🇺

[@MohdjesriOthman-oi1id]

nice model mate, i like this model

[@grahaigh]

Reliant Scimitar at 0:46.

[@stevenmanning6884]

Good memories of the festa

[@SabotsLibres]

The mk1 Fiesta was such a pretty little car

[@wburgess100]

I had one, In black. Twin Webber's. Sold it for the XR2 which turned out to be awful.

[@davidhipperson448]

Back when ford made cars with personally and with passion. Sadly around 1988 when the last range if individual cars were being phased out in favour of sll looking the same but add on 3 inches in width. Today? Ford is a company I don't even think of when car shopping and bring s blue oval nut of the 60s, 70s and 80s is a sad reality of its death to accounting running design.

[@classics144sportscarschannel]

that car has been greatly restored.

[@ChishanFipz]

My OCD is off the scale because the steering wheel is upside down!

[@daddymulk]

I thought that 😂

[@rayanderson921]

Love the Mk1, bad day in the editing suite though Matt 😅

[@furiousdriving]

theres a keystroke that puts another copy of the last clip into the timeline, and that dropped in...its being removed now...