The Ford Festiva is a subcompact car that was sold in the United States, Asia, and Australia by the Ford Motor Company from 1988 until 1993. The Ford Festiva was originally built by Mazda in Japan and was sold as the Mazda 121 in much of Europe. The Festiva was known as the Kia Pride in South Korea and replaced the Fiesta in North America.
The Ford Festiva was sold with three different engines, which were an 1138 cc SOHC, 1324 cc SOHC, and a 1290 cc DOHC. A turbo version of the Festiva is still a favorite in Japan today, though they are not all that common. In 1994 the Festiva was replaced by the Kia, thought it was also sold as the Ford Aspire in some markets. The model was discontinued altogether in 1999 after Kia and Ford separated.
There are seven more famous Ford Festiva cars that were modified by Chuck Beck of Special Editions and Rick Titus. The two got together and mounted a Ford SHO 3.0 liter V6 behind the front seats in a mid-engine rear wheel drive configuration. There were many cosmetic and mechanical changes including improvements to the chassis and wider wheel arches for larger tires, as well as a different suspension system. When all the changes came together the men had created a little car that could run the quarter mile in 12.9 seconds at 100.9 miles per hour. Jay Leno is the proud owner of the third of these seven cars.
