10:23 am, December 24, 2021
The Ford Fiesta is a cracking small car – it always has been since it launched way back in 1976.
Chances are you’ve either owned one, learnt to drive in one, been a passenger in one or knew someone with one. I have! I’ve had all flavours of Fiestas over the years and I’m a bit of a fan.
The appeal is easy to understand – they’re well made, easy to drive, cheap to fix and are always a real hoot to drive.
I certainly had a laugh when I took one out a recently as part of our Used Car Awards filming, which you can watch above.
The Fiesta was named our Used Small Car of the Year – in some ways, the gong should be called the Ford Fiesta Award… it’s that good a car!
There was a time when the Fiesta was just one model, but the car I drove was the Active model with its SUV-inspired body-styling.
There’s so much choice these days from cheap and cheerful entry-level models, through to posh Vignale versions. And don’t forget the blinding Fiesta ST which still remains the best small hot hatch money can buy.
Behind the wheel and you’d think you were in a much larger car – there’s tonnes of space! The fit and finish is exemplary and the tech is all logical and looks great.
But it’s the way the Fiesta gets down the road which is its true trump card. You feel so well connected with the road and Fiestas fitted with the 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine are the best – it’s a little belter.
They’re a fantastic buy for the used car customer too – probably more so. There’s a Fiesta for every price point and the residuals are impressively high. In many ways, this tiny Ford is the staple of the used car market.
