The Ford Fiesta is 40 - Six Generations and 17 millions cars later.......

The Ford Fiesta is 40 years old already! Time flies. Since first little Fiesta rolled off the production line in 1976, there have been 6 generations of Fiesta with more than 17 million units produced to date. Ford is marking this special 40th birthday with a celebration of a car that is still keeping with the times and is innovative to this day. It is also the best-selling car in Europe for the past four years as it has been throughout the years.

Ahh...check out the trendy flared bell-bottom trousers, sideburns....and of course the 1st Generation Fiesta. This is the fabulous '70s, baby!

In 2016, Fiesta remains true to the spirit of the original car, offering dynamic exterior design, a refined interior and advanced technologies including Ford SYNC voice-activated connectivity and Active City Stop low-speed collision avoidance system. Fiesta is available in 3-door and 5 door body styles and with a variety of modern efficient engines, including the award winning 1.0-litre EcoBoost. The range is topped by the new Fiesta ST200 – the most powerful production Fiesta ever. 

The first Fiesta ever produced could barely hit 137kmh. What do you expect as it had a 1.0liter 44hp engine. This clobbers its way to at least 230kmh.

So far, there have been no news as to whether we poor folks in Malaysia will be able to get this fiesty Fiesta. We had the chance to sample the 'normal' Fiesta ST (the red one below). It was bloody fun! The best handling supermini sized hot hatch you could find, if not the most powerful one sold here at the time we tested it! The Fiesta is a remarkable little car.

• Ford has shared with us the archives for some amazing photos and surprising facts which you can view here. If you're too lazy, here are some highlights.

 Ford Bobcat concept car - the prototype that evolved into a Fiesta 1st Gen

 The Ford Fiesta Ghia Tuareg - A crossover in 1970s. Before such a concept existed.

 1980s small affordable car interior. The Fiesta 2nd Gen

Junior Hot Hatch -3rd Gen XR2i  from 1989 - 1994 - First models made do with 1.6liters 104PS. What? 104PS in a sporting car? It was considered adequately sporting. Those were the days. 

• Ford has  also tracked down original test engineer Karel Willaert who reveals the secrets of test-driving the prototype Fiesta, and revisits the track behind the wheel of one of the original models https://youtu.be/YB1_GBpeDvY

All six generations

1st Gen and 6th Gen

2nd Gen and 6th Gen

 3rd Gen

 The very sad looking 4th Gen

 5th Gen

 Current 6th Gen Fiesta