On 18 October 1976
Ford of Europe officially launches the volume production of the new
Ford Fiesta at its Valencia plant in Spain.
Development of the
new small car started in September 1972. Several design proposals
were named Iris, Beta, The Deutschlander (Ford Cologne), Mini-Mite
(Ford of Britain), and the Blue Car (Carrozzeria Ghia SpA, Turin,
Italy). Codenames for the Fiesta prototype included Torino, but it
became Project Bobcat. The approved design came from Tom Tjaarda at
Ghia. Some of the proposed names for the new car included Amigo,
Bambi, Bebe, Bravo, Bolero, Cherie, Tempo, Chico, Fiesta, Forito,
Metro, Pony and Sierra. Despite more board votes for "Bravo",
Henry Ford II personally overruled them and named the car "Fiesta".
The Ford Fiesta was launched in France and Germany in September 1976
and in January 1977 in the UK.
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| Ford Fiesta Prototype: Mini-Mite circa 1972 |
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| Ford Fiesta Prototype: Mini-Mite circa 1972 |
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| Ford Fiesta Prototype |
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| Ford Fiesta Prototype: Ford Bobcat 1973 |
The front-wheel
drive car had a four-speed manual transmission with an updated
version the Ford Kent OHV engine (introduced in the 1959 Ford
Anglia), named "Valencia" after the new Spanish factory in
Almussafes, Valencia. The Fiesta was also produced in Dagenham,
England, and Saarlouis and Cologne (from 1979) in Germany. The car
was initially available with the Valencia 957 cc (30 kW) and the
1,117 cc (63 kW) engine in Base, Popular, L, GL (from 1978 onward),
Ghia and S trim, as well as a panel van. The U.S. Mark I Fiesta
(1978-1980) built in Cologne, Germany, featured the more powerful
1,596 cc engine.
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| Ford Fiesta Ghia (1976) |
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| Ford Fiesta Ghia (1976) |
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| Ford Fiesta L (1977) |
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| Ford Fiesta GL (1978) |
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| Ford Fiesta S (1977) |
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| Ford Fiesta S (USA, 1978) |
In 1980 a more
sporty version (1.3 L Supersport) was available in Europe, using the
1.3 L Kent Crossflow engine. The similar XR2 was introduced a year
later, which featured a 1.6 L engine. In 1981 the car
received a mild facelift with larger bumpers and it was replaced by
the Fiesta Mark II towards the end of the summer of 1983.
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| Ford Fiesta (Facelift, 1981) |
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| Ford Fiesta XR2 (1981) |
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| Successor Ford Fiesta MkII (1983) |
Ford Fiesta Advert, France 1979
Ford Fiesta Advert, UK 1976
Ford Fiesta Advert, UK 1980
Ford Fiesta Advert, UK 1982
Ford Fiesta Advert, US 1978
Ford Fiesta Avert, US 1978
Ford Fiesta Advert, US 1978
Ford Fiesta Development Story (1976)
Ford Fiesta Brochure, Spain 1979
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