The Ford Fiesta at 40: supermini as sporty as ever

Ford has made its brilliant Fiesta ST even better with additional power and a few tweaks to enhance the 1.6-litre car's performance. The aptly renamed ST200 has launched in Ireland just as the Fiesta celebrates a significant birthday: Like many 40 year olds, a new sports car would seem to be just what the doctor ordered.

Anniversaries in the car business happen all the time. The Toyota Corolla, for example, is 50 this year, but Fiesta’s 40th is far more significant. The Corolla arrived in Ireland in second-generation K20 form, whereas the baby Ford has been on sale in Ireland from its birth in 1976.

The small hatchback was Ford’s first front-wheel drive car in Europe. It invigorated the brand and has been a constant frontrunner in the sales charts – more than 17 million sales globally. Irish buyers have bought 180,000 Feistas to date.

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Barney Coleman: “Even if I won the Lotto, I’d still be driving a Fiesta.”

Following a search for Ireland's oldest in-use Fiesta, the Cork-based distributor organised a special convoy of some 40 privately owned classic machines. Up front was the winning 38-year-old Fiesta 1300 S and, ahead of it, the new ST200 driven by racing driver, stuntman and former Top Gear Stig Ben Collins. The destination was Dublin's Weston Airport, where enthusiasts could experience the ST200 driven by the former Stig on a closed track.

Collins compared the new ST200 to the classic V12 Lamborghini Countach in terms of acceleration, with the Ford doing the sprint from 0-100kph in an impressive 6.7 seconds.

The Englishman said he is often asked about Top Gear and which of the previous presenters (Clarkson, Hammond and May) was the better driver. "It is like asking what breed of cat is the best swimmer," he replies. What a nice put-down.

Fiesta love

At the ST200 reunion, I got to test-drive many of the machines of my youth and chat to a lovely group of enthusiasts.

Bernard “Barney” Coleman, a retired Dublin Bus driver, is on his eighth Fiesta and clearly a devoted fan of the front-wheel-drive supermini. Coleman, who wouldn’t look out of place in front of a Cadillac in New York, simply loves the baby Ford: “It’s a homely and a family car. It just keeps getting better and better. Even if I won the Lotto, I’d still be driving a Fiesta.”

Alan Deasy (34) is too young to have a direct connection with his mint 1.1-litre Ghia mark 1. So why did he buy it? "They were the last of the cheap affordable classic Fords," he said. "I just always wanted one and I wanted to get a pre-'80s one to avoid NCT. So I bought this one not long ago."

Deasy, a Ford dealership mechanic, has nothing but praise for the simplicity of his machine. Classic Fiesta ownership isn’t expensive, he says: “Cheap to run and cheap to buy; €2,000-€3,000 should get you a good one. You just don’t get trouble with them.”

Ireland's oldest Fiesta in regular use, dating back to 1978, is the pride and joy of John Egan from Tuam, Co Galway. "Mine's actually a little bit faster" he concluded with a smile after taking the first demo spin in the ST200 with the ex-Stig. Egan's rare 1300 S has been extensively modified to keep it going and stopping well. In fact, only the rear seat and body remain totally original.

Crash car

Collins’s connection to Fiesta goes beyond an appearance payslip, though the link is perhaps not as impressive as you might imagine from the bloke who does most of James Bond’s driving. To wit, his wife used to own a Fiesta until it was written off in a crash.

These days Collins has many strings to his bow, and has been working with Ford on and off for the past three years. Though he admitted that his eight years as the Stig were the most fun, 2016 has been great for him. He drove the outrageous Ford Raptor at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex and is now enjoying the ST200.

Of course, Collins would love to do more racing, and he regrets the lack of continuity with teams during his racing career. As for racing today, he said it has become far too expensive.

“You can see that in Formula 1, with the amount of drivers that are paying their way to be there. That has an affect all the way down the sport.”

Still, the movies are glad to pay, he said. "I've done three James Bond films and worked on the new Marvel movie, Doctor Strange, which comes out this year. Spider-Man, Batman – they're fantastic fun."

“Fun” is the key word for the potent €32,190 ST200 supermini, which shows you can be fabulous at 40. Happy Ruby anniversary, Fiesta.