As the demise of the once all-conquering Fiesta is confirmed, let's look back at the illustrious life of Britain's much-loved supermini...
But sadly it looks like it won't get there. Ford’s supermini was popular from the start, and went on to become the best-selling model in the UK before suddenly falling from grace for one reason or another in the early 2020s. And now Ford has announced that production will end in mid-2023.Within Ford, the Fiesta was known as Bobcat during its early development. Ford came very close to marketing it as the Bravo.
The XR name implied high performance, though not quite to the same extent as the fabled RS badge, while the 2 indicated that the car was smaller than the Escort XR3. XR4 was used for the high-performance derivative of the Ford SierraThe Fiesta was relaunched in 1983 with a similar body structure but a very different look. Most obviously, it was much rounder, making it more aerodynamic than its sharp-edged predecessor.
The Valencia and CVH engines were carried over, but in 1992 Ford introduced the new Zetec , the first 16-valve unit in the model’s history. Ford also built a small number of prototypes with 1.2-litre three-cylinder two-stroke engines, but did not take the idea into productionAlthough the Fiesta had always been popular, it wasn’t until 1990 that it became the most-registered car in the UK, according to figures supplied by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
The same car was also sold as the Mazda 121. Meanwhile, the previous Fiesta was still proving popular, so it remained in production as the Fiesta ClassicThis Fiesta was the only one to receive a major facelift during its production life. Ford applied its New Edge styling in late 1999, at which point the car dropped from its position at the top of the SMMT annual registrations list, where it had been for three years.
The styling upgrades applied to this car also appeared on the Zetec S, whose 89bhp 1.6-litre turbodiesel motor made it considerably slower but much cheaper to run.Even the popularity of previous Fiestas could not prepare anyone for the success of the version which went into production in 2008. In its first full year on sale, it hit the top of the SMMT’s annual registrations list, which was dominated by the Fiesta in every subsequent year until 2020.
In fact, the turbocharged unit had an overboost function which raised power to 197bhp for the first 15 seconds on full throttle. Since you’d be hard pressed to find a road where you could use full throttle for as long as that, this was to all intents and purposes a 200bhp car.The Fiesta moved into its current generation in 2017, though it is still based on the Global B platform.
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