A love letter to the Ford Fiesta

Earlier this week the news broke that Ford had decided to axe the production of the Fiesta after 46 years and it sent shockwaves across the motoring industry.

That’s right, as of June 2023, Ford will no longer make its most popular and successful hatchback model as a bid to move to an all-electric future (and because sales weren’t what they once were thanks to the rise of the SUV).

This has caused so many to look back over the years at how much this plucky little hatchback had achieved, so I thought I’d do the same.

The Fiesta supermini was first released in 1976 and has since seen eight different generations – each more successful than the last. In Britain, at least, the Fiesta has been a staple of our culture ever since its launch because it has always been the loyal, and dependable car that will always get you from A to B safely and efficiently. 

For you Americans, the best way this can be described is by comparing the Fiesta to the success and uptake of the F-150 pickup – one of the world’s best-selling vehicles. It’s like that but a lot smaller and much less powerful in its standard guise.

In the last 40 or so years, it hasn’t just been the public that’s appreciated the Fiesta either as the tuner and car enthusiast has loved them too from the sporty ST model to the insane Mountune examples you may find at some car meets. 

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that the Fiesta will be missed. A lot has happened this year in Britain but this is one of the instances that hurts the most. And the fact that the Fiesta lasted 46 years and Liz Truss lasted 42 days is even funnier.

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