The time has come to say goodbye to the popular Ford Fiesta. In October 2022, the brand announced that it would stop manufacturing it in 2023. And the day has come. As reported by the specialized media Autocar, today, July 7, the last units of the long-lived model will leave the Cologne (Germany) plant -although it was initially set on the calendar for the end of June-.
After 47 years in the market and more than 22 million units sold, the utility of the oval brand disappears from the German production line; the electric Explorer mid-size SUV will be assembled in its place. In fact, production needs forced the company to make such an important decision. And it is that Ford has invested some 2,000 million dollars to convert the Cologne facilities into a center specialized in the manufacture of electric vehicles.
And, of course, the Fiesta is not. At least still, because perhaps, in the future, its name could end up returning for a new zero-emission model. It is not the first time this happens. Without going any further, Fiat has recovered the name of Topolino for its proposal for a car without a B license (light quadricycle), based on the Citroën AMI.
Today the long history of a model that came to light in 1976 and which has been closely linked to Spain comes to an end. Not surprisingly, for several decades it was manufactured at the Almussafes plant in Valencia, where production began on October 18 of that year.
In any case, the model began to take shape earlier, in 1973, when Henry Ford II, grandson of the brand’s founder, decided to develop a small car to respond to market demands at a time of oil crisis. This is how the “Bobcar” prototype was created, which served as the basis for the Fiesta, a name chosen by the owner of the company himself among a dozen proposals. It should be noted that this name belonged to General Motors, but it was given to Ford for free.
When it went on sale, this model – the brand’s first front-wheel drive – measured about 356 centimeters in length, 156 cm in width and 136 cm in height. The generation that is saying goodbye now has much larger dimensions, which shows how cars have grown in size as they have been modernized. Thus, the current Fiesta is around four meters long, 1.73 m wide and 1.48 m high.
It was a very light car – it weighed only 700 kilos – and was powered by a reliable 957 cc engine that developed 40 hp. This power was sufficient for the time, especially if we take into account the characteristics of the vehicle. In addition, it offered low consumption. And, if we add to this a good equipment, then we find the keys that explain the success of the model. In 1979, the brand had already reached one million units produced.
Despite the fact that the car is no longer produced, it is still displayed on the brand’s Spanish website in the model configurator for a price that starts at 21,183 euros. Also, at the time of writing this article, there were 86 units available in stock.
