Ford Fiesta '76

ford
Ford Fiesta (1976-1981)
Fiesta '76
Production period:	05 / 1976-07 / 1983
Class :	Small car
Body versions :	Limousine , station wagon
Engines:	Petrol engines : 1.0-1.6 liters (29-62 kW)
Length:	3565 mm
Width:	1567 mm
Height:	1360 mm
Wheelbase :	2286 mm
Empty weight :	730-775 kg
successor	Ford Fiesta '84

The Ford Fiesta '76 was built from May 1976 and is the first series of the small car Ford Fiesta produced to this day . The vehicle was a new development and the first compact small car from Ford . After the Taunus 12M and the Ford Corcel not available in Europe , the Fiesta was the third Ford with front-wheel drive .

Model history

Since those responsible at Ford saw a gap in the existing model range at the end of the 1960s, they began developing a modern small car under the project name Bobcat . Until the market launch, this development devoured the high sum of 112 million DM for the time. Based on today's purchasing power and adjusted for inflation, this corresponds to 144 million euros.

For the production of the small car, Ford began in 1974 in Almussafes near Valencia ( Spain ) with the construction of a new production facility on around 2.7 million square meters, which was officially opened on October 18, 1975 by Henry Ford II and King Juan Carlos I. In 1975 Henry Ford II personally chose the name Fiesta because of the alliteration with the company name Ford and the new connection to Spain.

Almost all competitors except Opel had in the segment of the Fiesta already a model on sale: the VW group the Audi 50 and the nearly identical VW Polo I , Fiat the 127 , Renault the Renault 5 and PSA the Peugeot 104 and the Citroën Visa , add came among other things Japanese models like the Datsun Cherry . Opel didn't build such a small vehicle at the time. The smallest model was the Kadett City hatchback sedan derived from the Opel Kadett C (1973–1979), because the Opel Corsa did not come onto the market until the end of 1982. The first oil crisis (1973/74) led to significantly higher fuel prices; the demand for small cars was high in the 1970s.

The Fiesta was offered from May 1976 as a five-seater sedan with three doors and hatchback or as a small delivery van. The different variants were available with 1.0, 1.1, 1.3 and 1.6 liter petrol engines and four-speed gearboxes. The driven front wheels of the Fiesta were individually suspended on MacPherson struts and wishbones, the rigid rear axle had two trailing arms , a Panhard rod and the shock absorbers that absorbed the braking reaction torque. As a forerunner to the later XR2 with 1.6 liters and 62 kW, the Fiesta Super S with a choice of 1.1 or 1.3 liter engine is valid . He also anticipated the design of the side stripes (years of construction 1980 to 1981). The motorsport department also produced the Fiesta X with a 1.1 liter engine and 51.5 kW, based on the Fiesta Ghia. The Fiesta X had the later body drawing of the XR2 , only without side decoration.

The Fiesta was also available as a small delivery van. The two-seater was designed without a rear seat bench, had a flat loading area with 1.12 m² of floor space and a maximum payload of 310 kg. Instead of the rear side windows, the Fiesta had metal sheets, which in many countries were a prerequisite for, among other things, tax-favorable truck registration. However, there was no separation of the cargo space from the occupants with a grille or a net.

From 1977 to 1980 the Fiesta '76 was also offered on the US market. The US version, which was built in Cologne, differed in its energy-absorbing bumpers, side marker lights, round headlights and an optional air conditioning system that was not available in Europe. All US models had the more powerful 1.6 liter Kent engine (equipped with a catalytic converter and secondary air pump for lower emissions). In 1981 , the Ford Escort replaced the Fiesta in the US market .

Facelift

In August 1981 a facelift was carried out in which numerous technical details were changed. The external distinguishing feature was the new, larger bumpers with plastic corners. The model was sometimes referred to as the Fiesta '82 .

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  Ford Fiesta (1981-1983)

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  Rear view

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  Ford Fiesta XR2 (1981-1983)

Equipment lines

• Basic model
• Fiesta L
• Fiesta GL
• Fiesta Ghia
• Fiesta S
• Fiesta XR2

Special models

• Fiesta 1100X
• Fiesta Avus
• Fiesta Bravo
• Fiesta Festival I & II

Exterior colors

Uni paint tones:

Diamond white	Schwarz 1982–1983	Riviera Blue 1976–1978	Nordic blue 1978–1981	Baltic blue 1982	Medium blue 1983	Midnight Blue 1976–1981
Light gray 1983	Ice gray 1982–1983	Pigeon Gray 1979–1981	Light gray / green 1983	Calypso Green 1976-1978	Java Green 1978–1979	Pine green 1982–1983
Jasmine Yellow 1982	Prairie Yellow 1979–81	Sun red 1979–1983	Venezia Red 1976–1979	Cardinal Red 1982–1983	Sienna-Brown 1982	Terracotta brown 1978–1981
Rio-Braun 1982-1983	Dark brown 1983	Sierra Beige 1976-1978	Cordoba beige 1978–1979	Sand-beige 1982–1983	Toscana beige 1976–1978

Signal colors:

Signal yellow 1976-1979

Signal Orange 1976-1978

Signal-Red 1978-1979

Intense metallic colors:

Strato silver	Graphite gray 1981–1982	Inka Gold 1976–1978	Solar-Gold 1979–1981	Champagne Gold 1981–1983	Antique bronze 1979–1981	Jupiter Red 1976-1978	Imperial Red 1981–1983
Glacier blue 1981–1982	Arctic blue 1979–1981	Cosmos Blue 1976-1979	Lake Blue 1981–1983	Crystal Green 1979–1982	Nova Green 1979–1981	Fir green 1979–1981	Jade Green 1981–1982

technology

Front opening bonnet on a Fiesta 1.3 Supersport

body

The first series of the Ford Fiesta was available with five seats as a three-door hatchback sedan and as a two-seat small delivery van without rear side windows. The self-supporting body is made of sheet steel . Its shape was designed by Tom Tjaarda . The bonnets of the first two series of Fiesta open to the front. This solution was primarily used to save space for the hinges on the cowl (in front of the windshield). In contrast to the third series , the Fiesta '76 does not have any additional side impact protection. A PVC - underbody protection in the wheel wells , cavity protection in the doors and side sills , stone guard outside of the front plate, on the side skirts, the wheel arch and the bottom of the doors and wax the entire floor panel delay the rusting of the body.

landing gear

MacPherson strut as used in the Fiesta

Two-part wishbones with tension struts and MacPherson struts are installed on the front axle . The rack and pinion steering is combined with a safety steering column , but power assistance was not available either as standard or as an option.

The rigid rear axle is guided on trailing arms , a Panhard rod and the shock absorbers and is sprung with coil springs . Unlike usual, the shock absorbers are connected to the axle tube at two points to absorb the braking reaction forces and prevent the axle from rotating. In contrast to shock absorber struts , they can be swiveled to the side to enable reciprocal compression.

The XR2 is lowered and equipped with a specially tuned chassis and a stabilizer on the rear axle. In the XR2 , the Panhard rod is made of solid round material instead of a sheet steel profile.

Braking system

All Fiesta '76s are equipped with a diagonally split dual-circuit brake system and, depending on the equipment, with a pneumatic brake booster . On the front axle there are disc brakes with floating brake calipers , on the XR2 the discs are internally ventilated. Drum brakes are installed on the rear axle, and the parking brake also acts on them.

drive

All engines and transmissions of the Fiesta are installed transversely and drive the front wheels. Only Valencia and Kent engines with side camshafts are available. The four-speed transmissions of type BC are mechanically operated manual transmissions with a likewise mechanically operated clutch .

Mixture preparation and ignition

The Ford Fiesta '76 is only available with carburettor engines . The 1.0- and 1.1-liter engines are Single carburetor from Ford, the 1.3 and XR2 have carburetor of Weber .

All gasoline engines are equipped with a conventional ignition distributor from Bosch or Lucas , which in the 1.0; 1.1 and 1.3 liter engines still work with a breaker contact. The XR2 and the 1.3 liter engines from August 1981 are equipped with contactless ignition systems with an external ignition controller.

Electrical system and lighting

The electrical system of the Fiesta works with 12 volts, depending on the engine, three-phase alternators with 28, 35, 45 or 55 amps are installed. The main headlights were initially equipped with Bilux lamps, in April 1977 Ford gradually switched to type H4 halogen lamps , from May 1981 all Fiesta were equipped with lamps of this type, the optional round auxiliary headlights always with type H1.

Technical specifications

	1.0 (LC)	1.0 (HC)	1.1	1.3	XR2 (from 1981)
Engine:	4-cylinder in-line engine (four-stroke)
Engine type:	Valencia			Kent
Engine code:	TKA, TKW	TLA	GLA, GLW	J3E	L3E
Displacement:	957 cc		1117 cc	1297 cc	1596 cc
Bore × stroke:	74 x 55.7 mm		74 × 65 mm	81 × 63 mm	81 x 77.6 mm
Performance at 1 / min:	29–33 kW (40–45 hp) 5500	33 kW (45 PS) 6000	37-39 kW (50-53 hp) 5700	49 kW (66 PS) 5600	62 kW (84 PS) 5500
Max. Torque at 1 / min:	64 Nm 2700	65 Nm 3300	80 Nm 3000	94 Nm 3250	124 Nm 2800
Compression:	8.3: 1	9.0: 1		9.2: 1	9.0: 1
Mixture preparation:	1 Ford VV downdraft carburetor			1 Weber register downdraft carburettor
Valve control:	OHV (timing chain, camshaft in the engine block, mechanical valve lifters, bumpers, rocker arms, overhead valves)
Cooling:	Water cooling
Transmission:	4-speed gearbox
Front suspension:	MacPherson struts , tension struts, coil springs
Rear suspension:	Rigid axle, trailing arm, one-way wheel-guiding damper, Panhard rod , coil springs
Body:	Sheet steel, self-supporting
Track width front / rear:	1334/1320 mm XR2: 1350/1337 mm
Wheelbase:;	2288 mm
Length:	3565-3718 mm
Empty weight:	730-865 kg
Top speed:	132 km / h	139 km / h	147 km / h	158 km / h	170 km / h
Acceleration 0-100 km / h:	21.5 s	19 s	17 s	13.5 s	10.1 s
Consumption in liters / 100 kilometers:	5.2-7.1 N	5.2-7.1 p	4.8-6.8 S	5.8-8.5 S.	6.5-10.0 S

Motorsport

→ Main article : “Ford Fiesta Ladies Cup” in the article Ford Fiesta

From 1982 the Ford Fiesta Ladies Cup was held on identical and almost standard Fiesta XR2. The one-make cup was the first racing series only for women.

Ford equipped a number of fiestas for rallying. The output of the 1.6 liter Kent engine was increased to 160 hp. Michael Werner competed - mostly with co-driver Egon Meurer - in the Fiesta 1.6 at the German Rally Championship in 1980. At the Cologne-Ahrweiler rally , he clinched third place overall, the class win, he also achieved two second places in his class at the Metz Rallye Stein and the Rallye Vorderpfalz and two third places in his class at the Saarland rally and the Hunsrück- Rally. At the 1979 Monte Carlo Rally , Ari Vatanen was second in his class and finished in tenth place overall. The Spaniard Salvador Servià contested all of his races in the Fiesta between 1979 and 1982, with one exception. In addition to races for the Spanish rally championship, he also took part in the Monte Carlo Rally from 1980 to 1982. In 1980, he placed third in his class in ninth place overall, in 1981 he was again third in his class, which he even won in 1982. In the Spanish championship he achieved an overall victory, several podium finishes and seven class wins.

Conversions

Engine compartment of a Ford Fiesta 1100X

Ford itself offered a wide range of accessories for both public road traffic and motorsport through its in-house RS parts program ( R allye s port). With the Fiesta of the first series this was u. a. Light alloy wheels, shock absorbers, chassis sets, changes to the brakes and the drive, as well as a wide variety of engine tuning levels, which also included a double carburetor system. Sports transmissions were just as much a part of the range as flared fenders, spoilers, sports and bucket seats. The offer was rounded off by parts developed exclusively for motorsport, such as underrun protection and roll bars. The Fiesta 1100X could be ordered directly from the factory, but the parts that differed from the basic model were available individually. This enabled customers to convert their vehicles themselves or to have these conversions carried out by a workshop.

Other suppliers also took part in the fiesta, the range of wheels, chassis parts, engine tuning and optical tuning was large. Even turbo conversions were offered for the Fiesta.

Before the Fiesta XR2 was launched, Ford Berkenkamp from Worms offered its own model called the Fiesta RS 1600 (also known as Fiesta RS 1.6 ). The 1.6-liter Kent engine block, which later became the basis for the Fiesta XR2 , was fitted with the cylinder head of the Fiesta 1300S and, with its standard carburetor and a compression of 9.8: 1, contributed 64 kW (87 hp) 5800 min ^-1 . With a different carburetor and a modified intake manifold, the engine even developed 69 kW (94 hp) at 6000 min ⁻¹ . The car accelerated from zero to 100 km / h in 9.5 seconds and had a top speed of 183 km / h. The engine conversion kit for the Fiesta 1300S cost 3,600 DM (approx. 1,850 EUR) at the time. For other vehicle models, the costs were a little higher because changes to the chassis also had to be made. The RS 1600 from Berkenkamp was presented with Ford RS aluminum wheels in size 6x13, sports seats from ASS, rear window wipers, halogen H4 main headlights and front and rear spoilers from the Ford RS range of accessories. Berkenkamp offered the complete vehicle for DM 21,900 (approx. EUR 11,200). A cheaper variant based on the Fiesta 1300S with the large engine conversion kit and some small parts cost 17,900 DM (approx. 9,150 EUR).

Ford Fiesta (1982) as a convertible conversion by Bieber

Some companies offered convertible conversions for the Fiesta, the most widespread were the vehicles modified by the Bieber company .

Studies

At the 1979 Geneva Motor Show , Ford presented the Ford Ghia Tuareg study jointly developed by Carrozzeria Ghia and the styling department in Dearborn . The Tuareg was the study of an SUV based on the Fiesta with a 1.1-liter engine. It was equipped with the large, coarse-tread Terra tires from the Goodyear brand in the dimensions 26x12.00-12 on 7 inch wide steel rims. In addition, a ram bar, a permanently installed roof rack with additional headlights and wide fender flares were installed. The hatchback of this vehicle was reminiscent of the shape of the second series VW Polo , but had a horizontally split tailgate. The appearance of the Tuareg, painted in beige with so-called “rally stripes”, was based on vehicles from the Paris-Dakar rally . There is no information about the whereabouts, the Japanese toy manufacturer Imai Kagaku Co., Ltd. offered a plastic model kit of the vehicle in the Imai Super Car Peanut Series in the late 1970s .

The Shuttler design study by Ghia followed in 1982 . This vehicle is a two-door coupé that was based on the Fiesta platform with the 1.3 liter engine. The body and the interior hardly reminded of the Fiesta.

The Fiesta Fantasy was designed by Ford's Detroit design department. The basic model of this study was a pickup with an open loading area. The vehicle could be converted relatively easily into a 2 + 2-seater with a fabric hood or hardtop or into a sports car with two seats and a replaceable GRP roof.

None of the vehicles went into series production.

Others

The British company Quantum Sports Cars produced the MK1 Coupé model , for which the technology, the floor pan and the interior fittings of the fiesta were adopted almost unchanged. The body, however, was completely redesigned in a very rounded shape and was largely made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic . 17 of this vehicle were built. From 1991 a revised version based on the second series of the Fiesta was offered.

literature

• Ford-Werke Cologne: Ford moves - 75 years of Ford in Germany . Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld 2000, ISBN 3-7688-1239-1 .
• Stefan Rossbach: Ford: passenger cars since 1945 (type compass) . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-613-02692-6 .
• High Performance Fiestas 1979-1991 . Brooklands Books, Surrey (UK) 1991, ISBN 1-85520-127-5 (English).

Web links

Commons : Ford Fiesta MK1  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Ford Fiesta
• Link catalog on the topic of Ford Fiesta at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 30 years of the Ford Fiesta - a gap filler in a party mood. spiegel.de, August 1, 2006, accessed on September 28, 2012 . 
2. ↑ The amount was based on the template: Inflation determined, has been rounded to a full million euros and relates to last January.
3. ↑ Chronology 35 years of the Ford Fiesta. (PDF; 702 kB) (No longer available online.) Media.ford.com, July 29, 2011, archived from the original on January 6, 2012 ; accessed on March 26, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Jörnsen Reimpell: Fahrwerktechnik 1, Würzburg 1978, ISBN 3-8023-0505-1 , p. 313 f.
5. ↑ Ghia Shuttler. www.scottgrundfor.com, accessed December 28, 2012 (English). 
6. ↑ Fiesta Fantasy. (No longer available online.) Auto, Motor und Sport, archived from the original on August 24, 2002 ; Retrieved January 19, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.