This is my wonderful mk1 fiesta. Born and resident in England, it's a 1983 Popular in Carnival Red (at least I think that's what shade it is). It had a 957cc engine which was recently changed for a 1.1l reconditioned unit. Four speed transmission, and the only mod-con is the heater and the stereo.

When I acquired the car in january 2001 it was in a real mess. The paint was faded, there were big holes in the front wheel arches where they had been corroded away and the rear arches were not much better. It also came complete with its own set of "granddad" wheel's, full PVC seats and eau-du-feet smell inside. Not to mention an engine in bad need of some TLC.

First order of business was to repair the damage caused by rot to the shell of the car. Over a period of a fortnight the car was gradually repaired and resprayed ready for its MOT. The next order of business was to sort out the engine, by simply giving it a tune up! Once this was done the seats were changed for those from a mk2 XR2. This was fairly simple however the rear seat needed a little modification. The 13" Pepper Pot wheels were added next complete with Goodyear GTA 165 tyres. Most recently is the chrome surround about the registration plate and the rear spoiler as taken from a mk2 XR2. I've also added a clockset from a mk1 xr2 just for the sake of it.

I had four months of trouble free motoring, then things went a little wrong. The distributor exploded jamming up in the engine. Since then the original engine never ran the same, so recently it was replaced with a reconditioned 1.1l engine which was given me no trouble. I've also had to replace the fuel tank since most of its contents was ending up on the road rather than being used.

Fiestas are a fantastic car and mine has given me no real trouble. One of my friends owns a mk2 Volkswagen Golf and frequently asks why I don't get a better car? Simply put, I like my fiesta, a car where no drive is ever the same, and no morning ever dull when trying to start it! It's also thanks to this car that I came across Zoltan who I recently sent a manual (that's european co-operation).