Nostalgia. Fiesta: born from a trip to Italy… it will be Ford’s biggest project

At the end of the 1960s, the “Big Three”, the name given to the first 3 American automotive groups (General Motors, Chrysler and Ford) were specialists in large cars. Having entered the collective imagination, the “big Americans” with gleaming chrome are far from the image we have of the Ford Fiesta.

Moreover, in Dearborn, headquarters of the Ford Motors Company near Detroit, any small car project is systematically ruled out. It is true that there are many reasons to abstain. Small cars generate less turnover, release less margin, and seen from the United States, do not interest anyone.

On the surface, the European subsidiaries are doing well. Great Britain assembled 383,220 cars in 1976, while Germany delivered 486,607 units. Still, European Ford officials are worried. The Escort is selling well but the fashion is for city cars, and customers are leaving to compete. Worse, European households are getting a second car and the manufacturer has nothing to offer them.

It all starts with an ordinary weekend in Rome…

It was a stay in Italy that changed the history of city dwellers. Henry Ford II rests there with his wife during the holidays. On his arrival at the airport, he went to the rental company, which lent him a Fiat 127. Ford appreciated the driving and practicality of this Italian car and returned to Detroit with the firm intention of studying the question.

The biggest market study in the brand’s history was then launched. For months, clinical tests intended to probe the slightest wishes of the clientele are carried out.

City dwellers want a small car, practical, with a tailgate, handy and economical. The surveys show that it will absolutely have to be front-wheel drive.

The Fiesta has no factory

Front-wheel drive at Ford is absolutely not part of the house culture. Admittedly, a Taunus was already produced in the 1960s, driven by the front wheels. But it was not a great success and above all it was a big car.

Imagining a small front-wheel drive would only be profitable if hundreds of thousands of them were produced each year. The production capacities of the factories in Dagenham, Saarlouis and Cologne will not be enough.

Henry Ford II decides: the “Bobcat” project (code name given to the Fiesta) will only see the light of day if a new factory is born in Spain. Then began an endless series of round trips over the Atlantic for the company’s executives.

The Fiat 127 to the rescue

Ford’s staff set up a commando team made up of Americans, English, Germans, French or Australians. Procedures must be reinvented in the face of different industrial cultures. To save time, Fiat 127s are used.

A first team is developing the mechanics of the future Ford on a Fiat 127 body. second invents a chassis and a body using Fiat engines and transmissions. The Ford Fiesta is therefore studied from two “half-Fiat”.

To reduce costs as much as possible, the competition’s cars are completely dismantled to sift through their true cost price. Peugeot 104, Honda Civic or even Renault 5 are completely boned.

The cost of each item is listed in huge tables. If the cheapest steering wheel is that of the Honda and costs 3 dollars, that of the Ford will have to be more economical for an equivalent quality.

A worldwide success

It remains to find a name for this Bobcat project. A few days before the release of the city car, the name Bravo holds the rope. But Henry Ford II decides and decides to negotiate the name of Fiesta which belongs to General Motors.

The Fiesta was released in Europe and the USA, it was the first car designed to appeal to markets around the world. Thirty-two months after its launch, the millionth Fiesta rolls off the production line.

A success that continues until the arrival of the Puma SUV. The Fiesta was a global car, but the world has changed. Consumers want SUVs. Ford then announces that it is entirely dedicated to this type of vehicle in Europe in the future.