10 Fiesta Facts to celebrate its 40th

But before that, we need a little scene-setting for 1976 – the year of the Cod War, of Southampton winning the FA Cup, the Rover SD1 launch, and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody in the charts at No1. It was also the year of the heatwave, with 15 consecutive days of 32 degree C or more.

Phew what a scorcher… well it was for Ford dealers. In Blue Oval showrooms everywhere flared-trousered men and big hair-doed women gathered to gawp at Ford’s new arrival. Its claim to fame? Cute styling and the company’s first transverse-engined front-wheel drive three-door – not the first supermini but one that, like the VW Polo launched a year earlier, provided the definitive blueprint for the genre.

The video above little video does a fine job of evoking the times – and also capturing people’s reactions to the car…

1. The Fiesta has won lots of awards in its 40 years but never the European Car of the Year title.

In its first eligible year of 1977 it came third behind the Rover SD1 and the Audi 100. Its best result came in 2009 when it was second (by one point!) to the Vauxhall Insignia.

2. Two Fiestas took part in the 1979 Monte Carlo rally.

One driven by Roger Clark and one by Ari Vatanen. Ari came home an impressive ninth – and fast Fiestas were on the agenda forever more.

3. It almost wasn't called Fiesta

There were lots of potential names for the car – codename Bobcat – including Metro (the Austin version, and Britain’s answer to the new Ford, didn’t come out until three years later). In the end the directors decided on Ford Bravo – only to be overruled by Henry Ford II who decided on Fiesta instead. Henry II liked the Spanish connection – the Fiesta was built in a new factory in Valencia.

4. Over a million were sold in three years

The new Ford Fiesta was first shown to the pubic at Le Mans in June 1976, and went on to sell a million in less than three years. It was sold in the US between 1978 and 1980; mods included a 1.6-litre engine with catalytic converter, energy-absorbing bumpers and optional air-conditioning.

5. Options on the Fiesta Popular in the UK in 1979 included… a passenger sun visor.

Options on the seventh-gen model today include voice recognition satnav, heated seats and reversing camera.

6. First sporty production model was the 1.3 Supersport of 1980.

It went down well, the XR2 came a year later – and the boy racer icon of the 1980s was born, a generation growing up with its 0-60 time of 9.3secs imprinted on their brain.

7. The design was by Tom Tjaarda of Ghia

His other designs include the Ferrari 365 GT California, de Tomaso Pantera, Qvale Mangusta and the 2002 Spyker GT. Oh, and the Isuzu Bellett.

8. It almost launched the first crossover... in the '70s!

With considerable foresight, Ford and Ghia showed a soft-roader concept version of the Fiesta in 1979, called the Fiesta Tuareg.

9. Ford has sold over 4,000,000 Fiestas in the UK

We suppose that after 40 years some figures are warranted, and they do make impressive reading: between 1976-2016, Ford sold 4,339,149 Fiestas in the UK alone. European Fiesta sales are set to surpass 18 million before the end of this year.

10. The fastest Fiesta ever made its debut at FOS

And finally, one thing GRR’ers will know about the Fiesta: the latest, hottest and best Fiesta made its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this year.  With 200hp, the ST200 is the fastest-ever production Fiesta …though not quite as fast as another of our favourite Fiestas, Ken Bock’s latest Gymkhana model which you can see here.

A 1976 950 L with 45hp it is not!