MOTORING
It’s
Fiesta Time!
There must be few motorists who have not held the steering wheel of a Ford Fiesta over the past 40 years. Ford were noted for selling small cars that folks could easily afford. The T Ford was a motoring revelation and sold millions, but most of us can remember the Ford Popular era when the model was very basic but offered power on wheels.
Compare its fascia with today’s cars. There was an average of only three instruments on the painted ‘dash’ and a choke to pull out before using the starter. The 8hp engine had a ‘box’ with three gears. In 1976, I owned a Fiesta and then loaned the much sporty Fiesta XR2i - what great cars they were in an expanding motoring period. Sadly, the XR2i was the target for the TWOC gangs (taken without the owner’s consent). One morning it had disappeared but was found
in a back street of Athersley. While I was calling for the vehicle to be collected, it was stolen again. Five hours later a call from the
Police said it had been found in a Thurnscoe quarry. When again I went to collect, it had been stripped of every part; no doubt for the underground spares market. The only item Ford Motor Company got in return was the ignition keys in a jiffy bag!
Now we have a new Fiesta which
Ford claim is the most technically- advanced small car in Europe. At a glance it looks very much like its predecessor with the same grille and rising waistline, Versions are on offer from £12,715 including the stylish Titanium, the performance-inspired ST-Line, Vignale, the popular Zetec and on the starting line, the Style. It is more posh all-round with three and five door variants maintaining the fun-to-drive
character. Earlier I mentioned the simplicity
of the Popular, but the newcomer has two cameras, three radar beams and 12 ultrasonic sensors which can monitor 360 degrees around the car and scan the road ahead more than the length of a football pitch. What would Henry Ford have thought? There is a pedestrian detection system that can help prevent collisions, operating when someone is too close to the car.
The original Ford Fiesta XR2i 16v
Also with the package is a door edge protector which features a flap concealed in the door which moves into position in a fraction of a second as the door opens preventing damage to paint and body when parking in tight spaces. No need for those plastic push-on strips. There is a new roof design that channels water away from the edges to prevent being dripped on when getting in or out of the car. If you are prone to cold hands, there is a heated steering wheel. If you are into hi-fi, then the sound comes from
B&O equipment. Ford are famed for refined engines and the 1.0-litre EcoBoost is offered with 100, 125 and 140bhp petrol units. The 1.1-litre petrol shares a three-cylinder shell with the EcoBoost and is offered with a new five-speed gearbox in 70 and 85bhp versions returning over 64mpg. Rear passengers, especially the
elderly, will welcome more space for knees and appreciate improved seats which are softer and have slim backs.
The Fiesta is again a force in the supermini market place. A Ford executive told me: ‘We now have a Fiesta option for every driver, with advanced technologies and features that small-car buyers could only have dreamed of just a few years ago.’ For years I have tried to guess what next would be new on cars - where could they go? Now I know how the designers needed to spend so much time at their computers.
aroundtownmagazine.co.uk 79
Don Booker MBE Takes a look at the New Ford Fiesta
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