We Buy A 1981 Ford Fiesta Mk1... Without Viewing It First! Classic Ford Fail? Or Not?

[@UKBarnFinds]

Our next update video on this car is here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/emHOgpd8rZaZeLc

[@OneFlyingLap]

Definitely DO NOT put XR2 wheels on, these cars have a MASSIVE following and draw in a MASSIVE crowd, they are few and far between in this original condition too. Nearly all have been restored and a lot are in there second resto. Great content as always 💪

[@jason5783]

Subbed for the Mk1. Mine was £60 non-runner from a dealer friend, I put a battery on it and gapped the points and used it as my daily for 2 years.

[@01jvb]

Great car, in good condition. Please keep as original as possible. It'll probably have lots of people interested in it at shows already.

[@paultucker1272]

Oh, that's an absolute BEAUTY! Very happy memories for me, too, as my first car was a hand-me-down 1979 Mk1 Fiesta Popular (JAH 960V rust in peace!). Yours is so luxurious (that's what the L stands for......Luxury....no, really!). Mine had black vinyl seats, no stereo (although I fitted one into an aftermarket centre console!)....no heated rear window, no rear wash wipe. The front screen wash was activated by a foot pump next to the clutch! My mum had a luxurious (by comparison) Popular Plus! I had mine in 1988 when I passed my test and my first job was to sort the big rust hole in the front "spoiler". Happy, happy days! Looking forward to more on this one :)

[@UKBarnFinds]

Many thanks for your comment Paul, great to read. And I finally know what the L stands for 😂😂

[@ChrisJohnson-te3eg]

Lovely car. My parents had a black Y reg Mk1 popular plus back in the day reg ROF251Y. Bought in 1987 to replace a really old mini they kept it till about 1998. I learnt to drive in it and the interior of these brings back so many memories. I would love one of these again. Great channel just found you both today.

[@UKBarnFinds]

Many thanks for your comment. The Fiesta definitely was a great learner car 👍

[@MrH250]

The 1.3L is an absolute missile. A friend had one and I couldn’t believe how fast it was.

[@bentaylor9021]

I’d buy one of these in a heart beat if nothing else to relive the memories whilst getting it back on the road.

[@oxfamshop]

What I love about an early car like that fiesta is a near total absence of blind spots thin pillars geat view

[@Lot76CARS]

Great car and video but please please don’t be predictable and actually max power it with some XR alloys, just paint the steelies.

[@neilpassingham7309]

I learnt to drive in a mk1 and passed my test in a mk2. I remember my friends mum had one and was afraid to drive it, my mate eventually bought it off her when it was around 20 years old for a few hundred pounds with 7000 miles on it, sadly he ran it into the ground.

[@FenderTele]

Wow what a time warp little fiesta!!! From my memory my mothers mk 1 had a speedo needle that tended to give you a ballpark reading. The actual speed would be 50 and the needle would be moving between 45 and 55. To keep within the speed limits it was a case of going somewhere in the middle!!!!

[@simonc858]

I love these Mk 1 Fiestas! Maybe as I had two of them as my first two cars! A V reg the a Y reg. Great little cars, nippy and light on fuel, very fond memories of only 4 warning lights too! Looking forward to seeing this one as you work on it. Love the channel.

[@UKBarnFinds]

Many thanks for your comment Simon; much appreciated 😀 I love Mk1’s too, many happy memories of being driven around by mates in theirs. I was a couple of years too young to drive at that point. Always wanted one as my first car and ended up buying a death trap mini instead 😂

[@BLITSolutions2014]

My first car was a Y reg Dark Blue Fiesta 1.1 L great little car easy to fix and fun to drive. Got my daughter 2009 MK7 fiesta as her fiesta as her first car. Ford have definitely done the wrong thing killing off this great little car. Great barn find brings back some great memories of my little car

[@markpirateuk]

I reckon you got a good buy, I had a green W plate 1.1l back in the 90's, tatty old thing, but never let me down, paid £90 for it! Also had a mk1 XR2, but got rid within a month when offered an XR3 😎

[@glpilpi6209]

I would drop the sump on all these older cars to check the oil feed pick up gauze and clean out the gundged up oil in the pan. Surprisingly little rust on this Fiesta. Most of them rotted. I agree with what other's have said about the wheels , Big one's would make it look stupid and it's not meant to be a racer. I drove one of these when they were new . Great little car that you could drive for hundreds of miles without getting backache .

[@nickb5391]

The CVH was known for it, i did quite a few oil pick up pipe cleaning on them, not sure about the OHV ones

[@peterward3965]

Wow! That scrubbed up well, bit like myself 😊 I wouldn't put other wheels on it as it's far nicer to see cars in their original spec. Just an opinion. Yet again another enjoyable video 👍 thank you.

[@UKBarnFinds]

Thank you for your lovely comment Peter; much appreciated 😊

[@imSatnav]

Agreed. Keep the std wheels.

[@anthonyblake4469]

My first new car was X registered 1.1L. Black with tints and grad band windscreen. Paid for the extra of pads that went in the head restraint. Kept it about 18 months and sold it for more than I paid for it.

[@UKBarnFinds]

Result 👍

[@theoriginalwallace]

What a nice find! The FPE sticker is from Mike FPE youtube channel. He's built a compound turbo Zetec Mk1 Fiesta (Project Compo). Cheers. Leigh.

[@jonathanhill5698]

My first car was an Aztec bronze mk1 popular plus’s. I absolutely loved it.

[@CortinasAndClassics]

Fabulous. My first car was a mk1 Fiesta 1.1 popular. I loved the little thing but sadly I never drove it. I miss that little car.

[@johnshaw4140]

Brings back many memories , my Dad had one brand new , PAN 740 R , Bright Red 1.1L

[@UKBarnFinds]

That was a nice early one!

[@aslandama]

I remember the Moss alarm too, I had one on my '84 Fiat Strada 105 TC. This is a gem of a find, I just think it needs a little tlc without a full resto!

[@andrewmalyon5699]

Hi Elton and Claire,I'm absolutely loving the mk1 Fiesta, what a great little car, a real car of my younger days,everyone had one,would look so different buffed up red again,please,please please, do not put XR2 alloys on it, standard ones are so rare,but look so cool.

[@UKBarnFinds]

Hi there, Claire here. I agree with you, I’d like to keep the original wheels 👍

[@andrewmalyon5699]

@UKBarnFinds convince Elton, NO XR2 alloys, it looks so much better not being " modified " it is so cool,I remember driving these when I worked for a Ford Bodyshop .

[@UKBarnFinds]

I’ll try my best 😀

[@steverogersolo4]

Mk 1 Fiesta is by far the best looking version ever made. I had a MK 1 Kingfisher in black and if I remember correctly it had the blue interior only 500 of those made. Anyone got a clock that I can turn back Just long enough for me to grab the Fiesta back?

[@Baloonick]

You've got a proper little gem there. I'm sure you're going to anyway but I'd give those wheels a good clean up and spray instead of replacing them. I had a purple F-reg (handed down from my sister) which rotted in the door sills and front grill. Handled like a lightweight roller skate! 😄 Fitted a decent stereo which promptly got stolen by some low life in Derby - it was worth more than the car😄

[@davidsowerby2954]

Red Y plate 1.1L was my dad's first. It had small hub covers on the wheels which I think were standard on this range. Different headrest as well, plastic ones. Had to replace the aerial as the original wouldn't stay up and the automatic choke flooded the engine on cold mornings but other than that, great car.

[@wrathofbod]

Cracking buy, so glad you took the crome trim from the arches off, looks so much better

[@UKBarnFinds]

Yes, they were only stuck on, so had to go.

[@frog-eye1420]

I remember red oxide being popular back in the eighties

[@sporkfindus4777]

Fantastic! What a time warp! Please preserve rather than restore or modify. I am definitely in favour of keeping the original wheels

[@Paulcalverley]

Just found your Channel and I am loving it and Clair I have to say is Lovely.

[@iDayno]

I'm fond of a mk1 fiesta as I had one as my first car! They did actually do a base model (below pop/pop plus), mine was red with red vinyl seats and had a foot operated windscreen washer press 😂

[@MickSpeke]

Best type of MK1 with thin chrome bumpers. Bumpers on MK1 changes to black and a bit thinner around September 81, so this must be an August 81 "X" reg. The "popular " name started with the big bumper cars. With this model the base car was just called Fiesta Base and had black thin bumpers not chrome. Yours should have chrome door handles and maybe chrome,e mirror. Engines for Fiesta L we're 950cc (high compression) 1100 (55 bhp) and 1.3 (66 bhp - twin choke Weber carb) Tyres should be 145 x12 on 4" rims ( 1.3 had 155 x 12 on 4.5" rims). models were Fiesta Base, Fiesta L, Fiesta GL, Fiesta S and the now much sought after Fiesta Supersport. the XR2 came along with the big bumper models. if you put XR2 wheels on they will rub on the inner body unless a steering rack limiter is fitted.

[@MickSpeke]

Sorry I meant bumpers were THICKER after Septembe 81.

[@grahambarrat2540]

I had one of those cars. Great fun to drive.

[@marcduthie4327]

Great purchase. We didn't get this model here in Australia bul I love the look of it. Can't wait to see what you do with it. Marc from Australia

[@mfitzy100]

My mother had very similar one in Ireland. Kind of orangey red. Same headrests as the one in the video

[@nigelwooldridge615]

great starter cars had 2 notice headrests which were optional on that model had them on mine i also had vinyl roof sunroof wheeltrims foglights window tint rubber insert on bumpers trying to make it look like a ghia lol

[@bobhacking1431]

My dad had one in the same colour in the 80s GBV81W it was a popular plus

[@blackgreengb2377]

In 1997 I went from Ford mechanic to salesman at the same Ford main dealer. My first company demonstrator a Fiesta 1.1L WMB 67R & £5 of petrol a week. Being told I could have a replacement when I sold this one was a strange feeling. I had in total over 11 months 6 Fiestas, all 1.1 L. One at 2 days old a cow jumped over a hedge on to the bonnet. While my wife was in hospital after giving birth to our first child; my brother had borrowed her Escort 1.3 Sport in Daytona Yellow an immaculate example; he rolled it loosing control on a cow muck covered road. I drove out to take a look. Road signs dotted everywhere pressure washed area. Then a cow jumped over a hedge landed on my 2 day old Fiesta. The farmer admitted liability; when I gave my name the look on his face! Yes I said I’m the brother; saying new signs? Funny how this section of road is super clean? Camera phones or dash cams were weren’t about. Fiesta fixed, escort court case lost put down to driver error, no photographic evidence. Escort written off.

[@UKBarnFinds]

Wow, what a story!!!

[@jamesthompson8008]

Lol, if you could only have picture of the farmer's face...THAT is funny!! Yet, I would rather have the car back as well.

[@imSatnav]

When these first came out the drive was class leading. Even in basic spec they handled well too. However I did sell my three year old Midget to buy a Supersport version and regretted it. Not because the Fiesta was inferior, far from it. I just hadn't appreciated how much I loved the Midget.

[@mandymoo7406]

looks a good one,have fun taking the plugs out as they used to shear,rather than taking the head off i always got away with putting some square bar over what was left and filling it with mig then mole gripping it out,still got some axle cups at work they were always failing back in the day

[@deanplant1500]

One of best cars ever made just detail it service it and put on nice set of wheels maybe super sport 4 spokes job done I’m my eyes

[@paulmoore6345]

I do have a 1978 brochure with this in. Will bring it to an east coast retro show and if i see you i will show it

[@Truerealism747]

Got a mk3 fiesta van in original tyres 7000. Miles in clock tyres still.mint

[@raymondpearce5245]

Brilliant video guys a great car keep the video coming

[@UKBarnFinds]

Many thanks, will do 😀

[@Aardvark-dk]

Mk.1 Fiesta. I raced around in such a marvel, back when I studied....

[@sidneylarkin7002]

On my one the front passenger footwell rusted through when it was 6 years old and I had waxoil it from brand new.

[@UKBarnFinds]

Did you find out how come? Sounds like something wasn’t quite right there 😳

[@sidneylarkin7002]

There is a overlap joint in the floorpan and it rusted through, talking to the guy who did the welding he said ford escorts had the same weak spot and that was at 6 years old. @@UKBarnFinds

[@kyleguest3126]

Had a 1.3 Ghia and a XR2 mk1 regret so much getting rid of them as we all do

[@SwietyJunior]

Great wash montage 😄👍

[@UKBarnFinds]

Thanks for that, it was so much fun to do 👍

[@juanpabloarena2724]

Thanks for saving him!!!!!!!!!

[@JoeDunlop06]

Lovely little car

[@lewis72]

15:44 What's that car in the background ? Looks like an Ascona B.

[@UKBarnFinds]

That's a 1973 Opel Commodore.

[@lewis72]

@@UKBarnFinds Close but no cigar. 😆

[@mick0846]

To nice to restore Maybe just a bit of paint correction?.. and you could possibly paint the front valence

[@lawrencew]

Check out the Bridget Riley (and Porsche?) inspired seat trim!!!!

[@robertahrens9481]

I had one of those in California. Took two and made one many years ago.

[@johnburfield6818]

Looks good 👍

[@michael5089]

Wonderful video with great memories. I may have to sub your channel!!!!😊

[@coocoo9591]

I thought that noise from the door was her arm 💪coming off. 👀

[@sheldonpearce2365]

Cushty lil car m8👍👍👍👍

[@ruthbees7214]

😂what a little peach. First car my brother worked on in youth club as a young boy. Used to worry my mother by driving it on the road no tax or insurance and hadn't passed his test. About 1970 71.

[@trevhughes5666]

Seat bolster repair defo 😊😊

[@gordonsimpson255]

Great wee car in lovely unmolested condition and sorry to repeat like many others,NO XR2 ALLOYS PLEASE 👍 In Ford speak the colour of the car is Terracotta or in laymans plantpot 🤣

[@UKBarnFinds]

Judging by the replies, it does look like I’m going to save myself a couple of hundred quid on wheels 😂

[@markevans2280]

How much did you give for it ?

[@michaelkeen5010]

Great purchase, but please leave it as standard, it deserves that at least.👍

[@markbrown261]

All right side is keep it as original as possible because it's only original once and the history of the car is what it is

[@Jase73]

FPE sticker is a KZbin channel. Mike from FPE has a fantastic modified mk1 fiesta. Fast as F-k 👍👍 Wessex garage in Bristol is a Nissan/Kia dealer now.

[@UKBarnFinds]

Thanks. We’ve subscribed to the channel and, yeah, his MK1 is insane 😳

[@gj91471]

Best place to get a mk 1 is Malta.

[@JohnSmith-sl1my]

My friend had a mk1 giha x . It came with 12 inch metric alloys a shit to buy.

[@atrinaeddie]

Don’t put XR2 alloys on….if anything go with supersport….XRs will look naf

[@gj91471]

X reg Fiesta's had the best rear axle's

[@LawnMowersThingsThatMakeNoise]

Does L = Luxe ? I so want to drive that !!!!!! i had a 1989 1.0 popular plus (mk3) 🙂 That colour is either Sunburst Red/venetian red/ cardinal red. please please dont put XR2 alloys on it 😞

[@ism671]

FPE (fiesta performance engineering)current sticker and KZbin channel

[@charliecoco2115]

Please get that seat bolster repaired.

[@UKBarnFinds]

We do know of someone local who could do it, but it would depend on whether we can get hold of the material.

[@hotdogbri]

The L on the car is LUX I think..

[@johntovey3928]

Keep as original as possible please. ❤

[@newblackdog7827]

Isn’t that an 82, being an X reg?

[@UKBarnFinds]

No. It was registered 10th August, 1981. X reg can be 1st August 1981 to July 31st, 1982.

[@newblackdog7827]

@@UKBarnFinds Looks like a very solid & complete car and a very good buy!

[@LordClunk]

It's a MK1 Fiesta. How can it be a bad decision to buy it?

[@rds957]

👍

[@SuperSpunkmyer]

Ford fiesta battery has flat terminals NOT round.

[@UKBarnFinds]

Not this one, as you can probably see. I guess it was changed over at some point.

[@kenh3344]

Young lady , you must be careful about taking the lord thy Gods name in vain . 😮 but you do some good videos. So good luck with your project. .. nice little car. L stood for luxury. Model. Ford went on to produce a van version as well . Fiestas i believe were made in Spain. .

[@williamroberts980]

You did not say what you paid for it.

[@MrRetro-]

Was enjoying it until trigger showed up in the video, then i stopped watching, and unsuscribed, good look with the projects,

[@UKBarnFinds]

😂😂

[@trigsretromotors]

Bit harsh! 😢

[@OrionCrazyCarl]

​@@trigsretromotorsdon't worry trigs,don't get rattled,it will be all white 😂

[@shaunmccauley5129]

Had one off them fiestas on a v reg worst car I've ever owned

[@UKBarnFinds]

What was wrong with it?

[@ABB-bw6tc]

I had a Ford Fiesta I had to pump the window wash 🧼 squirters by the accelerator