ford fiesta late 70's 46mpg

[Mike T]

Originally Posted by MorningGaser

It was built in Spain, and had a VW engine in it, I think a 1.6L. ....

The Fiesta 1.6 sold in North America had the so-called Kent Ford engine. Definitely not a VW, unless your car had a backyard transplant....

The Fiestas were the nemesis of my Renault 5 GTL, which had the European 69 HP engine, but Fiestas were way faster, so I left them alone. My R-5 would top out at 103 MPH.

[2TonJellyBean]

In Canada, the Fiesta S was about $4200 and a VW Scirocco was probably around $6500. The Fiesta was made in West Germany.

[Mike T]

That sounds too cheap. The Fiesta came out in 1978 and the R-5 GTL cost over 5 grand in 1979! My 1976 5 GTL cost $3600, used (1.5 years old).

[2TonJellyBean]

Oh yeah, you're right... I traded it in for $4200 -- it cost $5500 in July of '78. Woops... even my long term memory is going now.

[2TonJellyBean]

Anybody want one?

http://toronto.craigslist.org/car/422887259.html

[oneinchsidehop]

I test drove one in '78 or '79 at the same time I test drove the "new" (then) turbo 4 banger Mustang. I hated the the Mustang and minced no words telling the salesman and later a Ford rep.

The salesman said, "hey, just for fun.... try this." And handed me the keys to a Fiesta. I laughed out loud when he showed it to me, when I got in I thought it was the cheapest piece of s&*^ I had ever been in.

Then I drove it. I was in love. It was so much fun. Then he showed me how to load the suspension by braking with full throttle into corners... I was hooked.

Then he told me that it got 46mpg, 10mpg better than the TR4a that I had been using in gallon races (old version of competitive hypermileing). I dreamed of that little car for the next 4 years all the way through college.

If I thought I could get parts I'd buy that one off craiglist in a heartbeat.

Gotta go now, suddenly I feel very old...

[GasSavers_Scott]

I had a 78 and an 80 Fiesta in the 80's, they were great cars, almost bought a low miler in 1998. They were easy to through around, I'd rally through hills of San Pedro and down to New Port in California. It did have the 1600 Kent engine, dirived from the English Ford Angila of the 60's.

The engine has quite a history behind it. It was fitted into many open wheel Formula Fords out there. It had a factory 32/26 Weber progressive 2 bbl. on it. loaded with smog and an early catalytic converter, it was ripe for tuning. It had an electronic ignition that if you bumped it from its stock setting by 3 degrees, gave you thick torque on the bottom. You could adjust things like the lifters and set those to closer Formula Ford specs. The factory cast iron manifold was tiny, that was tosted for a J.C.Whitney header I think was a whole $49.

It was a blast to drive, I got 34 to 36 mpg out of it. The bumpers were aluminum, the front grill was held on by 6 screws, the hood opened backward, it had a great padded steering wheel, and most of all it was flat out fun to drive

[GasSavers_Scott]

I had a 78 and an 80 Fiesta in the 80's, they were great cars, almost bought a low miler in 1998. They were easy to through around, I'd rally through hills of San Pedro and down to New Port in California. It did have the 1600 Kent engine, dirived from the English Ford Angila of the 60's.

The engine has quite a history behind it. It was fitted into many open wheel Formula Fords out there. It had a factory 32/26 Weber progressive 2 bbl. on it. loaded with smog and an early catalytic converter, it was ripe for tuning. It had an electronic ignition that if you bumped it from its stock setting by 3 degrees, gave you thick torque on the bottom. You could adjust things like the lifters and set those to closer Formula Ford specs. The factory cast iron manifold was tiny, that was tosted for a J.C.Whitney header I think was a whole $49.

It was a blast to drive, I got 34 to 36 mpg out of it. The bumpers were aluminum, the front grill was held on by 6 screws, the hood opened backward, it had a great padded steering wheel, and most of all it was flat out fun to drive

[oneinchsidehop]

Originally Posted by Scott

I had a 78 and an 80 Fiesta in the 80's, they were great cars, almost bought a low miler in 1998. They were easy to through around, I'd rally through hills of San Pedro and down to New Port in California. It did have the 1600 Kent engine, dirived from the English Ford Angila of the 60's.

The engine has quite a history behind it. It was fitted into many open wheel Formula Fords out there. It had a factory 32/26 Weber progressive 2 bbl. on it. loaded with smog and an early catalytic converter, it was ripe for tuning. It had an electronic ignition that if you bumped it from its stock setting by 3 degrees, gave you thick torque on the bottom. You could adjust things like the lifters and set those to closer Formula Ford specs. The factory cast iron manifold was tiny, that was tosted for a J.C.Whitney header I think was a whole $49.

It was a blast to drive, I got 34 to 36 mpg out of it. The bumpers were aluminum, the front grill was held on by 6 screws, the hood opened backward, it had a great padded steering wheel, and most of all it was flat out fun to drive

I had a Formula Ford with that engine...

Now if you could get tags for it... wouldn't a Formula Ford make a great hypermiler...

[bzipitidoo]

The Fiesta is a wonderful car. We don't have one but we order parts for it all the time, as those Kent engines were used in cars we do have. The first car to have a Kent engine was the 1959-1968 Ford Anglia. One of the cars in my garage here is a Ford Cortina, which has the same 1.6L Kent engine as was used later in Pintos, Capris, and Fiestas. Parts for a '78 Fiesta with the 1.6L engine that will fit the 1.0L Anglia engine include the head gasket and the distributor. That's right-- the head gasket for the 2 is identical! Very nice being able to convert to electronic ignition by grabbing a distributor out of a junked Fiesta.