Remember the Mazda 121 Ford Festiva? I got off one picture of this one while sitting at a red light last summer. It was in very nice shape, no rust, and even had the original monochromatic wheel covers–or are they alloys? Most of these I saw “back then” had steel wheels and black bumpers. Dare I suggest that this may be the elusive Festiva Brougham? Look, it even has fine Corinthian cowhide!
A high school friend of mine, Tasha (who I admit I had sort of a crush on), had one of these in black, a base model with the steel wheels and center caps. It had faded paint and a little rust but was a tough little car–this was in 1997-98. I liked her other car better though–a 1991 Camaro RS convertible in black with gray cloth. Now that car was sharp–mint condition too! But I’ll always have a soft spot for Festivas, thanks to her “winter beater.”
And now that I think about it, is the current Mazda 2 the modern-day version of this car? I rather like those, too. I was briefly quite interested in one this past spring and summer, but bought a Town Car instead. Go figure!
I rather have a Fiesta to keep the Ford theme going and I know you can order a 2014 Fiesta Hatchback with crank windows, but not sure about the Mazda2. Looks like the Fiesta/Mazda2 have better depart angles than the Honda Fit and if their ride is softer than the Fit that would make them good cars for the roads of Central New York.
I see a few Festivas around Portland and even fewer Aspires. Most of the Festivas I see are on the beater end of the spectrum, but for all I know their mechanicals could be in top notch shape. By the way, was the Festiva a Kia first or a Ford first? Also, I take it the similarities to the Subaru Justy are just a coincidence.
I remember one of those tiny two-paragraph items in the front-of-the-book section of an old Road and Track; and it showed a photo of the Mazda Carol concept car, which was another name in the JDM for the 121. Soon it went into production basically unchanged from the concept. The Carol was a 3-box 4-door sedan – quite cute – but then I soon started seeing pics of the 2-door hatchback Ford Festiva in US buff books in the 80’s. The sedan and hatchback are variants of the same design, though I’m pretty sure the sedan was never sold in the US. In the 90’s, they started appearing in my country (in Southeast Asia), marketed as the Kia Pride. Both the 4-door sedan and the 4-door hatchback were available in our market. We bought one hatchback brand new for our family business in 1998; and it’s still in pristine condition, now owned by a friend. Still plenty of them running around today in my country.
The Mazda2 is indeed a direct descendent of the Ford Festiva/Mazda 121, as is the current Ford Fiesta which shares the same platform.
What car in the background with black convertible top??
Lincoln Continental with horrible cloth Landau top. No offense meant if this car belongs to anyone here…
Looks like a Continental w/ cloth top from the badge.
Looks like a Lincoln Continental — 1999ish, with a “carriage” roof.
I think the Festiva is the “S” model, complete with tachometer.
Haha, Tom, you’re like me, can spend all the time in the world looking at and seriously considering car A, then choosing car B which could not be any more different than car A.
You know I read recently that around 350,000 Festivas were exported to the USA during the time these were sold from 1988 to 1993. That means roughly 70,000 were sold each year during the 5 years they were sold. That is pretty good sales for an A segment car during that time. But ether they were so unreliable or rusted out or junked due to prospect of one costly repair because you never see them anymore on the roads anymore nor the 2nd gen which was renamed Aspire.
A guy that lives in my neighborhood drives one as a commuter car still but other then that one I have not seen another for years. I think the one in your pic is a 1990-1993 GL as in 1990 the grill was refreshed and the GL models had color coded bumpers.
As for the Mazda2 being the modern day version of Festiva, It does ride a modified version of the D platform that the original 121 arrived on so yes I think it is a direct successor just as much as a spiritual one.
Like Tom Klockau, I also like the Mazda2 and considered buying one in green just like the one in the picture but could not find one with a manual so I bought its sister car a Ford Fiesta with a manual trans and a more garish green.
It seems that the Fiesta sells a lot better then the Mazda2 and that the Mazda2 does not sell really well here in the USA. It is a shame as the Mazda2 is a handsome little car that is well built and drives well for a car with 105 HP and seems to have more room for the driver then a Honda Fit(this might just be me though) but I also think the Mazda2 not only competes with the rest of the subcompact class of cars for sale now but also with the bigger Mazda3 and to be honest as much as I like the 2 if I can get a Mazda3 for only a few more dollars then I would hop over to the 3 because it is a good car also.
Surprisingly, the Mazda2 five-door has a more livable back seat than the 3. (I have a 3 sedan, so I can attest to this first hand.) The 3 might have fractionally more legroom — I haven’t compared the specs — but its rear doors are weirdly narrow at the bottom, which makes getting in and out unnecessarily awkward, especially if you’re not very flexible.
My brother used to have a Ford Festiva, base stripper version with stick shift and manual everything. It was quite a fun little city car and a blast to drive and park in SF. Wasn’t much fun above 65 mph and it kept going, and going and going…
Mazda has really lifted their game since the divorce from Ford though it seems this model missed out being only a reskin
CC Effect: Saw a Fiesta just yesterday and almost turned around to go shoot a photo (time was pressing, unfortunately).
A Brougham, it wasn’t.
The original Festiva was still in production by Mazda until recently, very common as used imports from Japan as the Mazda Demio. The Demio badging now resides on the Mazda2 bodyshell, gawd knows how long that one will stay in production. I really must shoot some of these oddities for you guys, just because its gone from the US market doesn’t mean they are gone altogether. The green car above is a Mazda Demio. No more Ford badging is permitted the current Ford Festiva is the UK originated car.
This is a Ford Fiesta Mk1 Ghia, see the vinyl top, as close as it can get to a Fiesta Brougham.
Front view:
That photo has to be one of the worst re-touch jobs I’ve ever seen. The reflection in the passenger window has a cut out for head rests. (???)
I had a little fun with a Lincoln Siesta chop last year.
The pictures are from a Ford brochure, around 1976-1978 I guess, since the Fiesta Mk1 was introduced in 1976.
I like how the re-touched brochure Fiesta’s steering wheel looks like it’s bang smack in the middle of the car – predating the McLaren F1 by 16 years… 😉
Rear view:
On a light note, I’ve rented Mazda 2s, and they are great little cars. Though my tolerance level for any car color is very high, that popular metallic pea green on Mazda 2s, makes my tummy quite queasy. Can’t look at it for any length of time.
Tom, have you been lurking around at The Brougham Society and not told me???
I kid you not, just the other day someone posted a white Festiva (not this one) and asked the same question???
KIA PRIDE is still in production here in IRAN by SAIPA.comes with afew different bodystyles like 4 door hatch,4 door sedan&wagon,pick up version has just came out too.kind of cute but not very practical.