The Mk1 (1976-1983)
Ford had noticed that people were growing
increasing impressed with smaller cars which offered good handling,
space and performance. The Fiesta was to be the first small front wheel
drive car that Ford produced, and in 1972 the design team was giving the
go ahead to start the new project called Bobcat.
The Mk1 Fiesta was to be launched in Autumn of 1976, as it happened
the timing couldn't have been better as the first oil crisis was
happening, and there was a boom in sale of small cars.
The name 'Bobcat' was a project name, because at this point they had
not thought of a name. There were two possible names for the new car, Fiesta or Bravo. In the
end Henry Ford decided. The name Bravo was latter used on Limited addition Fiestas.
Production began in July 1976 in Germany, and the launched date of the Fiesta was brought forward to September 1976,
but Britain had to wait unit February 1977.
The Fiesta range was available in 957cc and 1117cc capacities,
producing 40/47bhp and 53bhp respectively using the "Kent"
engine. It was a year after the Fiestas launch in 1977 that the 1300cc engine
became available, it used a twin-choke Weber carburettor from the 1300
Escort sport to produce 66bhp. Other changes to the car were made to
cope with the bigger engine, it had a larger cooling system, brakes and
suspension were modified and the exhaust system was changed
There were a number of special edition models produced during the
production of the Mk1.
| Special Edition |
Year of introduction |
No Manufacture |
| Solitaire |
1978 |
2000 |
| Kingfisher |
1978 |
2500 |
| Millionth Edition |
1979 |
3100 |
| Sandpiper |
1979 |
4000 |
| Firefly (Base) |
1980 |
2000 |
| Supersport |
1980 |
3000 |
| Festival |
1980 |
4000 |
| Sandpiper |
1981 |
4000 |
| Bravo |
1981 |
3000 |
| Special Launch |
1981 |
2000 |
| Bravo II |
1982 |
4000 |
| Quartz |
1983 |
4000 |
The Mk1 XR2 was introduced in 1976. Fords Special Vehicle Engineering
(SVE) team had finished there work on the Capri and were free to start
another project, the XR2. The XR2 is given it's name because it was the
second project to come out of ford's SVE plant in Dunton, Essex, the
first was the 2.8i V6 Capri although it was never given the XR badge.
The design brief was simple; no major chances to the chassis or
transmission, 100 mph+ performance and to meet all existing emission
controls. The Kent 1599cc engine was used with a Webber 32/34
carburettor to produce 84bhp, this gave the XR2 a 0-60 time of 9.4
seconds and a top speed of 105mph. The car was treated to some "Pepper
Pot" alloy
wheels fitted with 185x60 tyres and modified suspension but no anti roll bar was added to the
front. The 4 speed gear box was mounted slightly lower and used to same
ratios as the XR3 but with a higher final drive, and the brakes were
changed to vented disks. On the outside they added a body kit, graphics
down the sides and changed the square headlights to round ones. The
XR2s launch price was £5,500 and found may buyers, and by the time the
face-lifted version was introduced 1984, over 20,000 XR2s had been sold
in the UK. Production of the Mk1 ceased in August 1983.
Internal Links
The Specification of the Mk1 Fiesta
Production figures for both the Mk1 & Mk2
The Mk2 Fiesta
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