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Ford has made some tremendous cars over its 114-year history, and one of Autocar’s favourites is one of its smallest and cheapest: the deft handling, impish 2008-2017 Fiesta.
The car’s fine chassis and innovative engines were duly rewarded with strong sales in its key markets in the UK, Europe, and around the world. As the car is now being replaced by a new model, we think this is a good time for the Autocar team to choose the finest Fords there have ever been.
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FORD CORTINA 1600E (1967):
Ford invented the aspirational company car with the 1600E. Lowered, lairy and rather lovely. All regional managers wanted one. Every detail, from the Rostyle wheels to the executive badge on the C-Pillar and onto the dashboard dial hump of the original model was perfect. Even the 1970 England World Cup squad felt lucky to be loaned one (above). In the late ‘70s it became the lads night out saloon of choice.
JAMES RUPPERT - USED CAR GURU - Slide of
FORD ESCORT MK1 (1968):
For a certain generation of motorsport fans, the Ford Escort Mk1 is rallying - complete with glorious, tail-sliding, rear-wheel-drive sideways action, and the glorious wail of a 1600cc BDA engine. I’m not of that generation: the Escort’s last win on the RAC Rally was in 1979, the year I was born.
But through the booming historic rallying scene, I’ve seen some gloriously restored examples of the Escort. It’s so right: graceful, flowing lines that look good in road or rally trim.
JAMES ATTWOOD - DIGITAL EDITOR - Slide of
FORD FIESTA ZETEC S (2000):
A sentimental choice: this was my first car. Back in the days when engine capacity really meant something, having a 1.6 as a first car was the holy grail. That it was also quite a good one was even better; I can still picture those lovely white dials, feel that slick gearchange, and hear that crunch of the bodywork when I pulled in front of someone now.
Only one insurance company would insure a 17-year-old driving it for a three-figure sum - they’ve since gone bust. I wonder why.
MARK TISSHAW - EDITOR - Slide of
FORD FIESTA ST (2013):
Pound for pound this pocket rocket is one of the most entertaining cars on sale. Its wonderfully delicate handling, rorty engine note and palatable asking price means it’s adored by car-savvy yobs and worshipped by the wider motoring fraternity. It’s an attainable hero car for the young generation and a future classic, for sure, and it leaves clown-sized shoes for the next-generation model to fill.
DOUG REVOLTA - REVIEWER - Slide of
MK1 FORD FOCUS (1998):
The original Ford Focus was a game-changing hatchback, but that’s not important. I’ve chosen the Focus because an early 1.6 LX, in silver, was my first car. It was therefore the first car I drove on the motorway and the first car I saw 100mph in. It was the first car I took away with friends and the first car I spun on a country road. Happy times. Where are you, Y244 HNN?
DAN PROSSER - SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT - Slide of
FORD FOCUS RS 500 (2010):
Mildly conflicted here because in 2003 a mate of a mate bought a brand-new Mk1 Focus RS, and when we'd all stopped laughing at the interior, we collectively and jealously marvelled at the way it went up a B-road compared to the nineties-era hot hatches we all owned. But it was the launch of the RS 500 seven years later which made the real mark.
Coal-black, scandalously quick, the car lived long in the imagination - a proper sledgehammer.
NIC CACKETT - DEPUTY REVIEWS EDITOR - Slide of
FORD FOCUS ST (2005):
In 2006 we ran an ST as a long-termer in parallel with a contemporary Vauxhall Astra VXR. A colleague had the Ford, while I ran the rival VXR. Our farewell trip for the cars was a Lake District trip, and while I argued the merits of the gravelly Astra, it was the warbling five-pot Ford I wanted to take home. Sure, it was low-rent inside and drunk the other two hot hatches under the table (26mpg on a good day) - but what a delight to drive.
MATT SAUNDERS - ROAD TEST EDITOR - Slide of
FORD FOCUS RS WRC (1999):
Goodbye Escort, hello Focus - and what better way to imprint the new family hatch in the minds of the car-buying public than by turning it into a World Rally Car, slapping Martini and Valvoline stickers on it and putting Colin McRae at the wheel. Both the WRC and McRae were in their pomp, and the fact they won third time out on the Safari Rally stirred many a soul and secured legendary status for both car and driver.
JIM HOLDER - EDITORIAL DIRECTOR - Slide of
FORD FALCON XB GT PURSUIT SPECIAL (1973):
This brutish, cobbled-together Aussie was the perfect foil for Mad Max, from the 1979 film. Okay, its driving scenes don’t stand up to close scrutiny (the supercharger thrusting from its bonnet wasn’t operational during filming). Nevertheless, the way Max’s jaw drops the first time he sees the nitro-sucking Falcon – “the last of the V8s”, we’re told by Barry, dystopia’s most resourceful car mechanic – sent my passion for muscle cars into overdrive.
MATT BURT - EXECUTIVE EDITOR - Slide of
FORD NUCLEON (1958):
There are many Fords I like. I drive a Kuga, and it’s OK. The Crown Victoria is the police car. But no mainstream model stands out, so I’ve chosen this 1958 concept. Because having people driving cars with the same uranium fission reactor as a nuclear submarine isn’t in the slightest bit daft. Whereas the Ford Pinto’s fuel tank exploded if you rear-ended it, the Nucleon would have made a mini Chernobyl. Oh, and it has tailfins. I love tailfins.
KRIS CULMER - PRODUCTION ASSISTANT - Slide of
MK 3 FORD CAPRI (1978):
By no means the best Ford, but to my eyes, the Mark 3 Capri is the coolest of the cool Fords. It’s the skinny-jean wearing punk rock star of the late 70s that could be found down the boozer with a pint in one hand and a smoke in the other. I love its ‘what you looking at?’ face, slick coupé tailgate and velour-covered seats. Makes a good noise in 2.3-litre V6 form, too.
SAM SHEEHAN - SENIOR STAFF WRITER - Slide of
FORD SIERRA RS COSWORTH (1986):
Before the Sierra RS Cosworth, fast Fords were often crude. They looked good, were often no more than brisk, had engines that shouted and didn’t always handle as you’d hope. The Sierra Cosworth brought a new kind of refinement to the RS, despite a rear wing to rival a light aircraft’s tailplane. It also provided drama, rampant thrust, a decent ride and yes, a tendency to slither heart-stoppingly in the wet. A landmark you can’t miss.
RICHARD BREMNER - SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR - Slide of
FORD MONDEO ST24 (1999):
The only car to ever to get away with rocking a four-spoke wheel. Add that to mean, late ‘90s styling, that deep blue metallic paint and a creamy V6 engine, and you’ve got a future classic on your hands. Maybe. Objectively it might not be Ford’s finest hour for performance, but we’re not talking objectively. And did I mention that it birthed the ST brand, out of the ashes of the now legendary XR performance models?
JIMI BECKWITH, STAFF WRITER - Slide of
FORD FIESTA ZETEC S (2009):
I know, it’s just a Zetec S, but bear with me. Obviously there are Fords I’d rather have. Lots of them. Any Mark 1 or 2 Escort, an RS200, a Capri ... well, look, it’s a big list. But the Fiesta Zetec S has, by my reckoning, the best ride/handling/steering compromise of any ordinary hatchback I’ve tested during the past 20 years. And so for absolutely nailing, dynamically, what a daily usable-but-fun small car should be, it gets my vote.
MATT PRIOR - EDITOR-AT-LARGE - Slide of
FORD KA (1996):
I'm tempted to say the 1912 Model T that I drove to the Geneva motor show years ago, and I found I loved it so much I bought one and owned it for the next seven years. But my favourite of recent times has to be the original Ford Ka with its wonderful styling (inside and out), redolent of nothing else, its brilliant driving qualities and its sheer cheery convenience. It was so much better than its also-ran replacement. If it's not a future classic, I'll be damned.
STEVE CROPLEY - EDITOR-IN-CHIEF - Slide of
FORD XR2 (1981):
My friend Ben was from a better resourced family which is why when I turned 17 I got a condemned Fiat 126 that stank of rancid cream, and he got a brand new XR2 on pepper pots. The speed I could understand, the grip on low-profile P6 rubber I could not. Nothing I’d experienced advanced my understanding of what a car could do as much as this. Too frightened to drive another in case it’s rubbish.
ANDREW FRANKEL - SENIOR CONTRIBUTING WRITER - Slide of
FORD MONDEO MK I (1993):
"Mondeo Is King" boasted the Autocar cover line. And it was. Not long after the launch, I drove a 1.6 petrol the breadth of Portugal and Spain, a marathon that proved the Mondeo not only possessed exceptional steering and handling, but also a refined cruise and easy-to-live with ergonomics. I felt like I’d bonded with that Ford in a way that you only can on a long and enjoyable road trip.
JULIAN RENDELL - SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT - Slide of
FORD MONDEO (2006):
I’m cheating a bit. The Mondeo of 2006 was indeed a sharp-driving, great-value family car. But I admire still more its EUCD platform which spawned numerous notable machines like the multi-talented first S-Max, gloriously comfortable Volvo V70, and blockbusting Range Rover Evoque and original Volvo XC60; even the new Jaguar E-Pace uses it. EUCD will live on well into the mid-2020s, testament to well executed engineering, and proof that Ford could play the platform game when it tried.
TOM EVANS - SENIOR CONSULTING EDITOR - Slide of
FORD S-MAX (2006):
It has to be the S-MAX. I did the first UK drive for Autocar and took the car on my favourite test route across the North Downs in southern England. After two hours’ driving I was astonished. This elegant, but undoubtedly large, seven-seater handled like a sports saloon and rode brilliantly. It was poised and swift and completely counter-intuitive.
HILTON HOLLOWAY - SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT - Slide of
The original car magazine, published since 1895 'in the interests of the mechanically propelled road carriage.'
The weekly British title Autocar is the world's longest-running car magazine, with an editorial team of over 20 people in-house and a host of contributors from all over the world.
It is also a thriving digital brand around the world, and also publishes several international editions in territories including China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and India.
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