Ford Festiva
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The Ford Festiva was a subcompact car sold by the Ford Motor Company in North America, Asia and Australasia, introduced in 1986 in Japan. The car was manufactured by Kia in South Korea, which at the time was part-owned by Ford, and was derived from the Kia Pride, while Japanese, New Zealand and Australian models were manufactured by Mazda in Japan and derived from the Mazda 121, which was the car the Pride was derived from.
It was based on the Mazda DA platform, using Mazda's B Series engines.
The Festiva was sold in North America from the 1988 to the 1993 model years. It was also sold in Europe and some other markets as the Mazda 121 from February 1988 until 1991, when it was replaced by a rebadged Autozam Revue. It was sold as the Kia Pride in some regions. It replaced the Ford Fiesta in North America. Nasim and newer Saipa 141 in Iran and Syria.
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[edit] First generation (1986-1993)
In 1986, the subcompact Festiva was introduced to the world market, and it was introduced to North America in 1988. This Festiva sold pretty well, and it fit into Ford's new marketing agenda of selling better built cars. Early in its life, it faced tough competition from the Yugo, which was slightly larger, and only cost $3,990 USD, but the Yugo quickly fell due to alleged reliability problems. Initial sales were good, but by the 1990s, Festiva sales started to fall, due to the big car craze in America prompted in part by the introduction of the Ford Explorer. Since 9/11 and the second war in Iraq, used Festivas are coming back into popularity due to rising gas prices, while some enthusiasts turn them into pickups, dune buggies, convertibles and do other modifications to them.
[edit] The SHOgun
In 1990, Chuck Beck of Special Editions and Rick Titus took seven Festivas, gutted the interiors, and mounted Ford SHO 3.0 L V6's behind the front seats in mid-engine rear wheel drive configuration. There were substantial cosmetic and mechanical changes, including relocating the gas tank to the front of the car, structural bracing and improvements to the chassis, adding wider wheel arches to accommodate a wider stance and larger tires, and a complete redesign of the suspension. These changes resulted in a car that could travel the ¼ mile (0.4 km) in 12.9 seconds at 100.9 mph (162 km/h), and could achieve a lateral acceleration figure ranging from .95 to 1.04 g [1]. Of the seven, Jay Leno owns the silver one, which is number 003 [2].
[edit] Second generation (1994-2001)
For 1994, the Kia Pride was redesigned, meaning Ford got a new Festiva. While it was sold in certain markets as a second generation Festiva, Ford renamed it the "Aspire" in North American markets. The Ford Aspire was the first car in its class (in North America) to have standard dual air bags and optional 4-wheel ABS. This new Festiva was slightly longer, wider, and more aerodynamic.
For 1997, the Festiva/Aspire got a new front bumper with an oval grille, to keep up with the new Ford styling trend set by the Ford Contour and the redesigned Ford Taurus. The Aspire was dropped from the Ford range in the United States after 1997.
The second generation Festiva continued to be sold in Australia until at least 2001, but is no longer in the Ford Australia range. It is interesting to note that Australian second-generation Festivas have US side marker light cut-outs on each side of the vehicle (driver-side and passenger-side) at the front and rear. Instead of containing orange reflectors/lights at the front sides and red reflectors/lights at the rear sides, there are non-lit orange reflectors at all four locations. These redundant reflectors, coupled with the orange side indicator repeater (which is not required in the US, and was not included on the Aspire) make for a unique side profile appearance.
[edit] Safety
In Australia, the 1987-93 and 1994-1997 Ford Festivas were assessed in the Used Car Safety Ratings 2006 as providing "significantly worse than average" protection for their occupants in the event of a crash.[3]
[edit] Popular culture
- In the Jim Carrey film Fun with Dick and Jane, Dick and Jane trade in their BMW 7 Series for a Festiva as a way to save money after Dick lost his job.
- In the 1999 film Election, the character Jim McAllister (played by Matthew Broderick) drives a Festiva.
- A temporary art protest installation at the Sydney Opera House showed a 1994 Festiva crushed underneath a car sized rock.
- In the Monk episode Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing, Lt. Disher talks about how he was considering buying a Ferrari or a Festiva. He later offers Natalie a ride home in his new Festiva, and jingles the keys, which gives Monk the clue to solving the case.
- In the 2004 film Cellular with Chris Evans he steals a Ford Aspire security car from a prep school and uses it to engage in a high speed chase until the car is destroyed in an intersection.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Ford Festiva.Com
- Ford Aspire.com - Aspire/Festiva online forum
- Archive of a writeup on the SHOgun from the Wayback machine
- Used Car Safety Ratings - Ford Festiva
- Ford Festiva Mailing List at Yahoo! Groups
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