Ford Fiesta: ‘Dumpy little hatchback’ celebrates 40 years

A posse of geriatric Ford Fiestas made their way from Barberstown Castle in Kildare to Weston Airport today where, in the car park, they met their contemporary incarnation, the ST200.

The car was put through its paces by a man who used to be known as The Stig.

The ST200 - is that the grey one over there, asked The Irish Times? "Thunderstorm," corrected the nice PR lady, "thunderstorm." Farrow & Ball and their paint names have an awful lot to answer for. . .

Yes, it was that one.

The Fiesta owners loved it. They also loved The Stig, aka Ben Collins, who was for eight years the anonymous, white suited straight man racing driver foil on Top Gear, the butt of endless ribbing by James May, the hamster and some other bloke.

But more than anything else, they loved their old Fiestas.

Dumpy little hatchback

There were 75 of them, all there to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the launch of the dumpy little hatchback with the pointy nose, and to swap notes with other owners with the sort of nerdy attention to detail that is the hallmark of vintage vehicle enthusiasts.

John Egan from Tuam stood admiring his red Fiesta, built in 1978 and still going strong. "Oh, it's a thirteen hundred sport, fitted with a Mondeo eighteen hundred Zetec on bicarbs," he said helpfully.

Garda John Kennedy from Naas, part of the convoy escort along the M4 from Barberstown, surveyed the line of old Fiestas, their owners polishing bonnets with a spray named Demon Shine and the least likely types ever to cause him and his colleagues any bother. "I'm involved with vintage tractors myself," he said.

The Stig ambled over to thank him for the escort. “Couldn’t keep up with you,” he quipped with a smile and a glint in his eye.

Inside a hangar, Egan was pronounced owner of the oldest Fiesta on the road. There have been many different models over the 40 years, explained Irish Vintage Scene and Retro Classics editor Andrew Pollock, a Fiesta enthusiast himself.

Small mercies

“There was the base model, which was the L,” he said. “And there was the GL and also a Ghia, the luxury model with plush seating and a rev counter, that sort of stuff.

“There would have been the sporty model as well, the super sport and the XR2. Of course, when they went into subsequent models, there were different versions again. You couldn’t mention them all.”

Thank God for small mercies.

Rock music flooded the hangar and on the big screen, The Stig did his thing.

The ST200 had performance capabilities that matched the 1976 Lamborghini Countach, he noted. (Pit stop info break for petrol heads: the ST200 does 0 to 100km/h in 6.7 seconds, has eTVC – that’s enhanced torque vectoring control – and optimised braking, delivered with 278mm disc front and a larger tandem brake master cylinder than standard models.)

Back outside, the faithful Fiesta enthusiasts were rewarded with a ride in the new model, driven by the charming and affable Stig who performed doughnut-like turns and screechy stuff in the car park. “I don’t really get out of second gear,” he warned.

John Egan was first to get a go. “It was exhilarating,” he said after. “Yeah, he’s a good driver.” And the car? “Eh, slow. Swear to God.”

Garda Kennedy was out of earshot.