The Ford Fiesta Mk1 Was The Right Car At The Right Time! (1982 1.0 Popular Road Test)

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Ford's entry into the mid-1970s supermini craze turned out to be successful enough to feature in the UK's top 10 best-sellers list for almost every year that followed. The Fiesta was neither the first, nor the best supermini, but it offered a well-priced competitor to the likes of the Renault 5, Peugeot 205 and Fiat 127. Bolstered by excellent marketing, an eclectic range of engines and trim levels from Popular to Ghia and even XR2, not to mention Ford’s enormous dealer network, the Fiesta won hearts in Britain and across Europe. Joe decided to revisit the origins of the humble but mighty Ford Fiesta!
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[@bmw-e30]

These were a classy shape back in the day and look even better now. Really simple non fussy styling.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

Can't argue with the simplicity!

[@kamrankhan-lj1ng]

Yes. Much similar to the VW Golf and Polo.

[@adarbs6384]

I had a MK1 Fiesta Bravo II limited edition - it was Mums old car, someone bashed into the back of my Chevette so Dad gave me Mums Fiesta and bought her a new Peugeot 309. Loved it.

[@barrysteven5964]

Wow, this takes me back to 1983 when I was in my twenties. I was living near Liverpool and my girlfriend was living in Leeds. I had a car and used to make the journey over to see her every weekend. Then she took driving lessons, passed her test first time and bought one of these! It was a sort of rusty red colour. I remember waiting anxiously at the window for her to arrive safely on her first solo trip across the Pennines to see me. I have a lot of happy memories of that car. She had it for years. She was still driving it when we had our first baby. Yes, we did work out better living arrangements and got married! Still married and we've got grandkids now - and she's got a Škoda Citigo.

[@stefanofalzon6214]

Nice video...I have owned my 957cc mk1 fiesta GL for 11 years now. I fitted series X twin weber DCNF carbs and manifolds to the stock engine, XR2 pepperpots and lowered suspension. It's very nippy, has a nice throaty sound and handles well too!

[@Zeem4]

I've got one of these in my garage, but it's in bits, a half-finished project that I haven't touched for 10 years. A mashup of a 1.1L Economy with the engine and gearbox from a 957cc Popular Plus, odd-coloured body panels, much rust, an engine with a blown head gasket and a petrol tank with a big hole in it. One of these days I'll do something with it!

[@bondjamesbond9041]

Had one of these when it was only 3 years old. It was a basic popular model with only one sunvisor. It was very basic but was very reliable and I had it for 10 years. The mk1 fiesta was probably the best car of it's type at the time. Thanks for bringing back a happy memory.

[@Paulo-ov4yo]

I had a red mk1 too, and an XR2 mk2 in black. Great little cars

[@BLITSolutions2014]

My first car was a Fiesta MK1 1.1 L Y reg Dark Blue, great first car easy to maintain, realiable and fun to drive. Modified it with Ghia Alloys, Kenwood Head Unit and 3 spoke stearing wheel thing to do in the 1990s. Was a geniune 50k low mileage car would be worth a few bob today :)

[@markymark2819]

My dad had one (957cc Fiesta Popular) 1992-87 - same colour Cardinal Red and orange/grey strip seen in your video GCP 336Y. Late model with a few extra's: rear fog lamp and reverse light plus wash wipe and (i think) heated rear screen. I used to drive it when I passed my test in 1996. Happy memories brought back by this video.

[@iancairns7398]

My first car was a mk1 popular plus, taught myself basic mechanics with that car along with a Haynes Manual.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

That's what it's all about!

[@Lot76CARS]

Didn't most of us have a Fiesta? Mine, was the facelifted one after this, a little 950 Poplar Plus... what a weapon, or at least it was in my 18 year old hands!

[@garethreece]

Passed my test in one, driven several but never owned one. Found any car is a weapon to an 18yo, even the 1.3 Escort Estate I had at that age would cover ground well... Though it drank like my current 2.0T Audi when I drove it like that 🤣

[@AP-hp4yo]

I had one, a 957cc in green for my first car. It was mint with low miles. Originally 4 star converted to unleaded. Had some great times in that car.

[@DaveP668]

I learnt to drive in a 1.1L which was 5 years old. My first car was a 1.1L which was 11 years old and had 75,000 miles. Petrol was 45p a litre for four star! Took me on numerous 1,000 mile round trips to Scotland, to relatives 250 miles away, broke down when the points failed, used to overheat, but it was transport. Had it 18 months before tin worm killed it at just shy of 100,000 miles. Traded for a mk3 which by 50,000 miles used as much oil as petrol!

[@h12man]

a big step up from the lada i had as my second car,1.1 sport, was very reliable and cheap to run, sold it to my uncle when i got a Vauxhall ,wish i could have stored it

[@giulianomarco]

The early Fiestas had good ergonomics. Stalks and pedals were in just the right place. Wheel and pedal weighting spot on. And no damn central console! It was nice to know I was going to get to my new job and not break down on the way (Allegro! 🤬). Unfortunately they grew bigger in girth with every mark. Do modern cars really need all their gadgets and gizmos? Pops were basic motoring at its finest. Festival of the Unexceptional!

[@adarbs6384]

Completely agree. And look at what all these fantastic cheap basic small cars have turned into now...high tech (not needed) family sized cars - Fiesta, Micra, etc

[@CortinasAndClassics]

I had a MK1. A Y reg 1.1 popular plus in white- I miss that car.

[@dongelgef5655]

Family had a popular bought new even if local ford dealer walked away when told we wanted the cheapest version. Second car used to learn in as "nippy" in light grey , best colour as didn't have to wash it for ages as colour just transformed. Had go fast stripe added which changed the look considerably, and added extra untapped MPH ! All in a good small 80s car , even survived my father reversing at "high" speed into neighbour's ford escort ,writing it off , during heated depart on holiday with mother....those were the days.

[@MrSheymie]

Bought a 1981 1L Mk1 in '97 for £500 and drove it for 3 years. Nice nippy simple little car that I enjoyed driving. Car was rust coloured orange with plenty of real rust. Sold it as a runner in '00 for £150!

[@turboslag]

Had the van version, brand new, as my first ever company car! That was back in 1979, so T reg, I think it was a 1.1L, in red with the company logo on the sides. I worked for a commercial video equipment company so was hauling big, very heavy pro video recorders, cameras, monitors around on a daily basis. For a small van it held a surprising amount of gear and was still pretty nippy. On one occasion I was out on a day trip at the weekend, on the way back we were on the M62 on a long straight section, so decided to see if it would get to a 100 mph! It took forever but it reached an indicated 103! Probably not accurate though! After about 18 months the company replaced it with an Escort 1.3L estate in sahara biege, sh1t colour but that was a brilliant car, loads of space, brilliant handling and quite brisk performance! Happy days😊. Don't see many of either about now, in fact, I haven't seen one of either for years, decades even, the Fiesta van must be as rare as hens teeth now.

[@rasherbasher8203]

Great video👍👍👍

[@tazsian3996]

You now because off the past they were the hero's of car's you now what bring back all the old school car's back

[@adebrade172]

Passed my test in 86 fiesta favorite amongst driving schools.

[@stephenhill6003]

I'm very nostalgic about my '79 Fiesta and you almost never see them in the States. They were quickly replaced by the boring US version of the Escort. But man, was that little car fun to whip around.

[@melgrant7404]

Best design ever.

[@alexandrecouture2462]

Fun video! This car looks like it was so much better than the Ford Festiva we had in the 80s and 90s in Canada and USA. This one was a Mazda 121, built by Kia.

[@lazerblu]

Should have gone for Popular Plus, tailgate wash wipe and clock very useful.

[@robsawalker]

Girl at work back in the late 80s had an absolutely mint, standard 1300 Super Sport, lovely little car. Wonder if she still has it?

[@rdabbott]

I had a Mk1 950cc Popular Plus as my first car 🙂

[@robkneen7546]

I owe a mk4 and mk5 fiesta and currently rebuilding the mk4 after a incident. but its so fun to drive it

[@rob5944]

We've had twoMK2 versions in the same colour blue. One CVT and one 957 manual. The former had the VV carb and I couldn't change it. My wife wrote it off but for some reason the guy who wasn't at fault paid up in cash!

[@jasonborn1978-h1i]

Amazing car. Mine was 1.1 mark one in baby blue with matching wipe down vinyl interior. PLD988W. Manual choke! Still one of my favourite cars, not entirely because it was my first car though.

[@markeastwood74]

This brings back memories of my first car. Rear seat that leapt forward every time I braked, speakers secured with tape, rubber plunger on the floor to squirt the windows. What a crap car it was, and yet... rose tinted glasses really do work.

[@cupidstunt22]

First car VDP 132Y. Loved it.

[@Zolega89]

My family used to have one!

[@R08Tam]

"The transverse engine popularised by the Fiat 127". What happened to the Mini?

[@berwhaletheavenger]

The Mini was gearbox in sump, an engineering dead end. The 127 was a carry on from the 128 which copied an Autobianchi that pioneered the end on gearbox layout.

[@luiwammes4193]

When talking about the first hatchbacks being the Golf, Fiesta and so on and talking about transversal engines, rearwhealdrive becoming frontwheeldrive I always get annoyed they always talk about Golf's, Fiesta's, Corsa's and old Kadett's. I always poit out that Fiat 127 and Renault 5 came first and set the benchmark. Very nice to see a review where in the Fiat 127 is being given the respect it diserves.

[@richardbrown1189]

I had one of the very last Mk 1's, built in 1983. A 1.0 litre Popular just like the one in the video. It was a great little car. I kept it for four years and it had done over 90,000 miles when I finally traded it in.

[@sameyers2670]

My mum learned to drive in my grandads Mk1 Fiesta, CAD 613T.

[@mauromazzoncini5711]

I had one this colour 950 popular plus great wee car I added more sounddeadning to mine then drove it to Europe and back

[@nlpnt]

Sold remarkably well in America too for being manual-only and more expensive than the much larger Fairmont due to being imported and the weak $/DM relationship. It cost almost 50% more than the by-then-antiquated Pinto, comparably equipped, which is why Ford replaced both with the Americanized Escort.

[@michaelkeen5010]

At the time the Fiesta was launched I owned a Mk1 VW Polo N with the 895cc engine, introduced to the U.K. market in 1976. In my opinion it was a better car than the Fiesta and I went on to own several more over the years.

[@kamrankhan-lj1ng]

But Polo was considerably pricier with not proportionally improved quality.

[@michaelkeen5010]

@@kamrankhan-lj1ng No it wasn’t that much pricier, and the quality was better than the Fiesta in my opinion because I had a good look at a Fiesta when it was first launched.

[@dufrayne_4192]

This was my first car was back in 94. But mine had cloverleaf alloys

[@neilmustow368]

Design classic the Fiesta Mk 1 they were everywhere when I was a youngster in the early 80's now very rare in 2022

[@ianhamilton5201]

Ah that takes me back! Had a 1983 1.1L in that same colour. Dirt cheap motoring, never went wrong, will always have a soft spot for these mk1s. Replaced it after a few years with a mk2 1.3 ghia after someone ran up the back of it. Preferred the mk1 though.

[@glpilpi6209]

I found the mk1 more comfortable

[@nicolaspuichaud7576]

une bonne auto - fiabilité - bien fade qui avait sa place sur un marché des citadine en croissance , mais Ford a vraiment été timide, sans prendre aucun risque et s'en sort plutôt bien pour au style insipide , techniquement dépassée , sauf position moteur transversal , une tenue de route moyenne comme son freinage - alors il leur restait de belle promotion , des prix abordable , une communication agressive et un effet tapageur avec la Ghia - je me sens plus réaliste que sévère

[@semiretired86]

are there some if any difference between a Kent/Valencia engine and the modern natural aspirated Fiesta engine? I've got a 2014 100 hk Fiesta Titanium X turco

[@terryatkinson899]

5 of us used to go to work in one of these, the exhaust used to fall off regularly as it's bolted to the manifold and only rubber hangers on the back box, his were "fast fit" replacement exhausts and in the time he had it they replaced it for free 3 times. The engine was quite tappety, we hated this car and he bought an old Toyota corolla which to us was like a Rolls Royce, so quiet and reliable.

[@graemew7001]

I had 2 red Mk1 950's in my time, great little cars, basic but less to go wrong and mine were great in the snow although the back end could drift in the wet if you pushed it! Always wanted but could never afford a Supersport......still can't! Lol

[@minimaxi802]

My dad didn't own a Mk1 Fiesta, but had a Chrysler Sunbeam that was rear wheel drive.

[@iDayno]

I remember seeing this in WB & Sons auction, is it still for sale? Thanks.

[@daveprice1608]

I learnt to drive in my mum's mk1 Ford Fiesta popular. simple car to drive and still have a more modern Ford Mondeo 1.5 ecodeisel. My modern equivalent of my mum's fiesta is my run arround Renault Zoe22kw. Wonder what people will think of that in 40yrs time

[@chrismc1977]

Inherited my 1.1L from my grandfather as my first car. Basic but incredibly simple. Popped along well with 53hp- criminally bad understeer however!!

[@darrenwilson8042]

You forget how uber basic a basic car of that ear was - that looked like the late great Sabine in that MK2 Escort photo - I'd still have the 127 though or better still from the same year of this the Uno was light years ahead as a package.

[@video99couk]

I jumped in a MK1 Fiesta from my slightly older Hillman Avenger and I'm sorry but it felt like a retrograde step. The Avenger was an older technology and a different market segment, but a much more refined car.

[@tabsntoot]

Very nice quality built car.

[@sameyers2670]

I had a Mk3 as my first car then a Mk6.5, they are good cars. My 56 reg one did 173k in 12 years.

[@didierwanty]

Ou peut-on trouver pièces de mk1 1982

[@briansteffmagnussen9078]

The retro wave is long gone by now, but i would like to see the three musketeres, Golf Mk I or II Fiat 127 and the Fiesta Mk I as retro versions in 2024. And i wonder if the car that is easy to maintain and repair ever will come again, When was these attributes last designed in to a car? Does such a car stille exist in 2023 that can be repaired at home with basic tools in my own garage?

[@gerrywhelan7426]

I owned two of these beautiful simple crisply styled cars. Best looking Fiesta ever, compared to the blobby looking yokes that followed.

[@rob_lightbody]

He says it's not very refined, and has lots of roll, but what did the reviewers at the time say?

[@garybarnett2753]

Wasn't the mini the first car with a transverse engine ?

[@jimmyquinn9639]

Lovely little car 🚘🚙🚗👍👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@richardford7322]

My second car was a fiesta mk2, lovely car, it never let me down! It gave up it's life for me when some dick head crashed into the back of me in a Ford Transit van. Lol

[@nickdoughty518]

I had a new one in 1977. It had a basic design fault in that the engine bulkhead weld joint allowed rainwater to accumulate in the passenger footwell. Tinny and too basic.

[@michaelkeen5010]

What about the VW Polo Mk1, in my opinion a more refined car than the Fiesta. I had 5 between 1976 and 1983

[@Steve-gc5nt]

And now Ford is in full retreat in Europe.

[@berwhaletheavenger]

These arrived in the UK in early 1977 iirc. I never liked them, cheap, tinny, noisy and generally a bit meh. The VW Polo was much nicer in every respect (it was originally an Audi design) and both the 127 and the soft riding Renault 5 were nicer cars as well. The Metro, despite its many rust and reliability problems was also a much better drive. The Ford Valencia engine is not related to the Crossflow at all and was a clean sheet design - it's narrower, shorter, has a three bearing crank, different firing order, angled spark plugs and nothing is interchangeable. Only the XR2 and 1300 Mark 1 Festers used a Kent X Flow. But they were not a bad car, quite lively, easy to drive and generally robust.

[@kieranwhite6647]

It's a shame that Ford have recently dropped the 3 door Fiesta, the bodystyle that started it all for the Fiesta

[@rasherbasher8203]

So annoying that muppets are buying SUV's.. the fiesta will sadly be a thing of the past soon.. 🤬😢😢😢

[@williamwebb6178]

Production of the Ford Fiesta is coming to an end in June 2023

[@nicksmpsn6546]

My first car bought for me by my parents when I was 17. Unfortunately my parents didn't want me to have any street credibility and chose the colour jobby brown, however, I don't think that was the official paint name 🤔

[@MrRetro-]

Ive had metros, and fiestas, and the fiesta has a far nicer driving position, and even me being 6ft3, i find the fiesta more comfortable, and the metro was bouncy and rather rough, both of mine rattled like a tea tray full of crockery on any road surface, ive always though the fiesta was much better looking and better preportioned,

[@timbounds7190]

The Fiesta was also Ford's greatest mistake - don't know what Ford did to them, but they rusted remarkably slowly, at least compared to Ford's normal standards!!!! Seriously, it was a decent car, but small front wheel drive hatchbacks were well established way before Ford got round to the Fiesta, and the fact that they even considered the possibility producing a small car with rear wheel drive in the mid 70s says it all about Ford's lack of innovation. There again, British Leyland still hadn't got the memo about the public liking hatchbacks by then, so you have to give Ford some credit!

[@anthonyeverett1391]

🆗

[@PaddyWV]

No. The Fiesta was Ford playing catch up to everyone else.

[@robandys6109]

Absolutely awful car slamming the door was like being in a bell and engine that sounded like a bag of nails and I thought they were a five bearing engine but after taking the sump off I found out it was only 3 bearing

[@zsoltpapp3363]

One of my old pals showed up in a Ford Fiesta the other day. 5th gen.2002-2008 - what a peace of junk, good lord, i think i have never seen such an ugly car interior in my life

[@davidrumming4734]

Fiesta is no more, well not from summer 2023.

[@malcolmcowan9554]

Yuck things have came along way since the mk1 fiesta

[@matthewsmith2787]

Unreliable car