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Ford Fiesta at 40: picture special

The first Ford Fiesta rolled off the production line in Valencia 40 years ago, and since then it's become the UK's best selling car of all time

More than four million Ford Fiestas have been sold in the UK
The Ford Fiesta Mk1 had a top speed of 79mph, which we hit on our road trip to Geneva this year
The Fiesta Mk2 was longer and more fuel efficient than the Mk1
Over its four decades on sale, more than one in every 20 cars sold in the UK was a Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta XR2i carried a £10,000 price tag in 1989 and rivalled the VW Golf GTI and Renault 5 GT Turbo
The Ford Fiesta Mk4 had a more rounded shape than its predecessors
By the end of the year Ford expects to have sold a total of 18 millions Fiestas since 1976
The Ford Fiesta Mk5 ST is still an absolute peach to drive
The current generation of Fiesta has been on sale since 2008 and will be replaced next year
Great fun and easy to live with, the Fiesta ST is one of the best hot hatches you can buy

News

by Doug Revolta

2 mins read

19 July 2016

Follow @DougRevolta

The Ford Fiesta is the UK's best-selling car of all time, shifting more than four million units since first going on sale in 1976.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the Blue Oval's hatchback, we've pulled together a gallery of past Fiestas (above), and our favourite reviews and features (below).

Ford Fiesta Mk1 driven 600 miles to Geneva

To celebrate where it all started, we took a Mk1 Fiesta from 1976 on a massive road trip to Geneva.

Ford Fiesta XR2i vs Peugeot 205 GTI

These two cars were at the top of their game in 1989, but which came out on top when we faced them off against each other?

What's the best hot Fiesta?

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used Ford Fiesta 2008-2017 cars for sale

Ford FIESTA 1.6T EcoBoost ST-3 Euro 6 3dr

2016

£9,700

42,000miles

Petrol

Manual

Ford Fiesta 1.0T EcoBoost Titanium Euro 6 (s/s) 5dr

2015

£4,795

80,516miles

Petrol

Manual

Ford Fiesta 1.0T EcoBoost ST-Line Euro 6 (s/s) 3dr

2017

£8,795

24,425miles

Petrol

Manual

Ford Fiesta 1.5 TDCi Zetec Euro 5 5dr

2014

£4,795

72,000miles

Diesel

Manual

Ford Fiesta 1.4 Zetec 5dr

2011

£4,999

63,000miles

Petrol

Automatic

Ford Fiesta 1.0T EcoBoost Titanium Euro 6 (s/s) 5dr

2017

£9,999

22,424miles

Petrol

Manual

Ford FIESTA 1.25 Zetec Euro 6 5dr

2017

£10,000

11,961miles

Petrol

Manual

Ford Fiesta 1.0 Zetec Euro 5 (s/s) 5dr

2013

£5,195

51,000miles

Petrol

Manual

Ford FIESTA 1.25 Zetec Euro 6 3dr

2016

£7,395

27,000miles

Petrol

Manual

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Comments

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jagdavey 19 July 2016

The first Ford Fiesta rolled off the production line in Valencia

If it's Spanish, why head to the back roads of Essex to face off some of the greatest hot Fiestas in its history?
Why not go back to it's spiritual home of Valencia???
Oh I just realized what the Essex connection is.................... a long long time ago in the last century Ford used to Design, Engineer & even build cars in Essex!!!!!
Now they just make everything in low cost countries & sell all their products in the UK at prices they couldn't expect to sell at in Spain or Germany.

bol 19 July 2016

"XR2i rivalled the Golf GTI..."

In the head of the odd XR2i owner perhaps, but how else Autocar?

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Ford Fiesta at 40: picture special