Picture Of Ford Fiesta

By 1980, over one million Ford Fiestas had been produced, making the vehicle a huge success for Ford. That year also marked a drastic design change for the Ford Fiesta. The square headlights were replaced with larger, round headlights, and a new high-output motor, named the XR2 Cars, was available. This new Fiesta boasted a 0-60 time of just over nine seconds and advertised a top speed of 105 MPH, making it a favorite mini car for the street-race crowd well into the 1980’s.


In 1983, the Mk2 Ford Fiesta was introduced which used a four cylinder, inline motor and was offered in either a 957 cc size which produced only 40 horsepower, or the bigger 1597 cc engine which tipped the power scales at 84 horsepower. The body of the new Ford Fiesta was essentially the same, with the exception of a more aerodynamic front end and a reworked interior. The hotter XR2 engine produced 96 horsepower and was mated to a five-speed manual transmission. While a truly fast, performance-minded Ford Fiesta was never actually produced, many aftermarket kits were available to enhance their performance, including turbo setups that could boost the horsepower to well over 120. The Mk2 model was offered through 1989.

Picture Of Ford Fiesta

The Ford Fiesta was designed by Ford of Europe in the 1970s to compete with the new “super mini” car design that was being introduced by companies like British Motor Corporation, MINI, and even Vauxhall, who produced the first Chevrolet Chevette in 1975. Fiat and Renault were also manufacturing smaller, front-wheel drive vehicles that were big on gas mileage.


The Mk1 Ford Fiesta utilized a four-speed, manual transmission to operate with the 957 cc engine, which came to be known as the “Valencia”, and was named after the factory that Ford built, which was intended to produce only Ford Fiestas. All the versions offered for American buyers featured a larger 1597 cc four cylinder engine.

Picture Of XR2 Cars

Handling is one thing that really needs a little attention on most models. A stiffer spring and damper and lowering of 35mm will really do much to improve handling. (The handling of the St model is actually very tight from the factory though!)

Induction kits and sports exhausts, although popular modifications will do little to add power to anything less than a 1.6 litre engine. Getting the head gas flowed and ported and converting early models to electronic ignition and fuel injection are probably the best choices of modification around.

Fast road cams will also make quite a difference to the power characteristics of the 1.6 and 2.0 engines.

Picture Of XR2 Cars