Article First Draft

This is the first draft of the article I'll be using. I looked up some information on the history of the car and tried to mix that with opinions on what it's like to drive from the reviewer's point of view. Bare in mind though, I'm no journalist...

What do you think of when you hear the name Ford Fiesta? Predictable? Reliable? Gets you from A to B without fuss? But hold on… isn’t fiesta supposed to mean fun and excitement? Parties and good times all round? Surely Britain’s beloved hatchback wasn’t that dull, was it? Lee Vidal’s been taking an old Mk 4 Zetec for a spin for find out.

The extensively revised Fiesta Mk 4 put the fun back into functional during the mid-1990s. It was as good to drive as any rival super-mini and still looks fairly modern, with curvy, youthful styling, though it’s less radical than its funky little sister, the Ka. Ford's bestseller got a fresh lease of life in the form of 16-valve engines, improved suspension and handling, good security measures and modern safety features.

The Fiesta may bring you and your weekly shopping home in one piece, but a twitch of the throttle reveals the excitable yipping terrier under the bonnet jumping up and urging you to go faster. In that sense at least, it certainly puts in a good effort thanks to its lively 1.25 and 1.4 liter Zetec engines and great grip which makes it fun to drive all round, even today. It’s arguably stood the test of time better than any of its old rivals besides the unbeatably well handling Saxo. As a result of the refined suspension there were also vast improvements in the ride quality over previous incarnations. The Mk 4 handles the bumps and potholes of country lanes with relative ease and you won’t have to slow to a crawl every time you encounter a strategically placed speed hump in the road. And if racing over speed humps takes your fancy then it’s a good job this Fiesta had a 3 star n-cap rating with driver and passenger airbags as standard.

And because it’s a Ford the engine should run and run, which is definitely more fun than braking down. If it does, it’s cheap to repair. Finding spare parts for a Fiesta is like find sand on the beach. Okay so I’m clutching at straws now but really, the Fiesta is only as boring as you make it. Sure you may end up in the passenger seat if you take a turn too sharply, and the dash is about as interesting as a documentary on the history of stamp collecting but I stand by my belief that the Fiesta is and always has been as entertaining and delightfully fun-filled as its name suggests.