Ford Festiva

Ford Festiva
Overview
Manufacturer	Kia Motors Mazda Motor Corporation
Also called	Ford Aspire Kia Pride Mazda 121
Production	1986–2000
Assembly	Sohari Plant, Gwangmyeong, South Korea Gwangju Plant, Gwangju, South Korea Taiwan (Ford Lio Ho; CKD)
Body and chassis
Class	Subcompact
Layout	Front-engine, front-wheel drive
Related	Mazda 121
Chronology
Successor	Ford Ka (Australia) Autozam Revue (as Mazda 121, Europe)

The Ford Festiva was a subcompact car, marketed by the Ford Motor Company in North America, South America, Asia and Australasia, introduced in 1986 in Japan.

Production started in Japan in 1986, for sale through Ford Japan's Autorama dealer network. The Festiva used the Mazda DA platform and Mazda's B Series four-cylinder engines, which continued the trend of Fords built and designed by Mazda for the Asia-Pacific market such as the Laser and Telstar. Assembly under license by Kia Motors started soon afterwards, who at the time were partly owned by Ford.

In markets were the Ford Fiesta was available, the first generation Festiva was sold as the Mazda 121 from 1988 until 1991, when it was replaced by the Autozam Revue, also re-badged as the 121.

The second generation was introduced in 1993, which was sold as the Ford Festiva, Ford Aspire or Kia Avella in various markets.

The Festiva was marketed in North America from the 1988 to the 1993 model years — with roughly 350,000 units sold.

The name Festiva is derived from the Spanish word for festive.

First generation (1986–1993)

First Generation
Overview
Also called	Mazda 121 Kia Pride
Production	1986–1993
Assembly	Kia Motors (most markets including North America) Mazda Motor Corporation (3-door hatchback for Japanese market, Mazda 121)
Designer	Mazda Motor Corporation
Body and chassis
Body style	3-door hatchback 5-door hatchback 4-door sedan
Platform	Mazda DA platform
Related	Nasim, Saipa 141, New P.K
Powertrain
Engine	1.3L I4 1.1L I4 (certain markets only)
Transmission	3-speed automatic 4-speed manual 5-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	1986–87: 2,295 mm (90.4 in) 1988–1993: Template:Auto in
Length	1986–87: 3,475 mm (136.8 in) 1988–1993: Template:Auto in
Width	1,605 mm (63.2 in)
Height	1,405 mm (55.3 in)
Curb weight	725 kg (1,598 lb)

See also: Kia Pride

In 1986 the Festiva was introduced in Japan, and it was introduced to North America in late 1987 for the 1988 model year. In Europe it was introduced as the Mazda 121 in February 1988.

Festivas sold in Japan and Mazda 121 models exported to Europe were built by Mazda in Japan. Only the 3-door hatchback was produced in Japan. Other "Ford Festiva" branded examples for other markets including North America and Oceania were built under license by Kia Motors in Korea, which was also sold in South Korea as the Kia Pride. After the original 121 model was discontinued in Europe in 1991, Kia started exporting the Kia Pride there — the first Kia model to be sold in this market. 5-door hatchback and 4-door sedan variants were introduced in the early 1990s, produced by Kia. These were sold in Japan (imported from Korea) as the Festiva 5 and Festiva β respectively. A canvas roof version was available in some markets.

Sales of this model as the Ford Festiva ended in 1993, but production of the car as the Kia Pride continued until 2000.

Festiva in North America

In the US this Festiva sold well, and it fit into Ford's new marketing agenda of selling better built cars. Early in its life, it faced tough competition from the Yugo, which was slightly larger, and only cost $3,990 USD, but the Yugo quickly fell due to reported reliability problems. Initial sales were good, but by the 1990s, Festiva sales started to fall.

The SHOgun

In 1990, Chuck Beck of Special Editions and Rick Titus took seven Festivas, gutted the interiors, and mounted Ford SHO (Yamaha-built for the Taurus SHO) 3.0 L V6s behind the front seats to make the car mid-engined. There were substantial cosmetic and mechanical changes, including relocating the gas tank to the front of the car, structural bracing and improvements to the chassis, adding wider wheel arches to accommodate a wider stance and larger tires, and a complete redesign of the suspension. These changes resulted in a car that could accelerate from 0–60 miles per hour (0–97 km/h) in 4.6 seconds, travel the quarter-mile (0.4 km) in 12.9 seconds at 100.9 miles per hour (162.4 km/h), and could achieve a lateral acceleration figure ranging from .95 to 1.04 g.

List of Special Editions SHOguns

• Special Editions SHOgun #001 - Ron Gallo
• Special Editions SHOgun #002 - location unknown
• Special Editions SHOgun #003 - Jay Leno
• Special Editions SHOgun #004 - Rob Cook
• Special Editions SHOgun #005 - KJ Byrnes
• Special Editions SHOgun #006 - location unknown
• Special Editions SHOgun #007 - Chico "RangerPowerSports member"

Gallery

• 
  1990-1993 Ford Festiva GL hatchback (US)
• 
  1991-1994 Ford Festiva (WA) 5 door hatchback (Australia)
• 
  Ford Festiva β sedan (Japan)
• 
  Mazda 121 (Europe)

Second generation (1994–2000)

Second generation
Overview
Manufacturer	Kia Motors
Also called	Kia Avella Ford Aspire
Production	1994–2000
Assembly	Seoul, South Korea
Body and chassis
Class	Subcompact
Body style	3-door hatchback 5-door hatchback
Layout	FF layout
Powertrain
Engine	1.3L 63 hp I4
Transmission	3-speed automatic 5-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	Template:Auto in (2-door) Template:Auto in (4-door)
Length	2-Door: Template:Auto in 4-Door: Template:Auto in
Width	1997: Template:Auto in 1994–96 2-Door: Template:Auto in 1994–96 4-Door: Template:Auto in
Height	Template:Auto in
Curb weight	2,004 lb (909 kg) (2-door) 2,053 lb (931 kg) (4-door)

Main article: Kia Avella

The second model Ford Festiva was jointly developed between Kia and Ford USA, retaining most of the drivetrain of the previous model with a more rounded body style, including a circular grille, designed in USA.

1997–2000 Ford Festiva (WD/WF) GLXi 5-door hatchback (Australia)

1994–1996 Ford Aspire 3-door (US)

Depending on the market, some retained the SOHC, throttle-body injected motor, while others received an engine with a DOHC cylinder head and MPI designed also designed by Mazda.

While it was sold in certain markets as a second generation Festiva, Ford renamed it the "Aspire" in North American markets. The Ford Aspire was the first car in its class (in North America) to have standard dual air bags and optional 4-wheel ABS. This new Festiva was slightly longer, wider, and more aerodynamic. The 5-door model was offered in North America for the first time.

For 1997, the Festiva/Aspire received a new front bumper with an oval grille, in keeping with styling of the Ford Contour and the redesigned Ford Taurus. The Aspire was dropped from the Ford range in the United States after 1997.

The second generation Festiva continued to be sold in Australia until 2000 when it was replaced by the Ford Ka. Australian second-generation Festivas have US side marker light cut-outs on each side of the vehicle (driver-side and passenger-side) at the front and rear. Instead of housing orange reflectors/lights at the front sides and red reflectors/lights at the rear sides, there are non-lit orange reflectors at all four locations. These redundant reflectors, coupled with the orange side indicator repeater (which is not required in the US, and was not included on the Aspire) make for a unique side profile.

Kia developed their following model, the Kia Rio, completely independently, and finished their relationship with Ford.

Safety

In Australia, the 1987-93 and 1994-97 Ford Festivas were assessed in the Used Car Safety Ratings 2006 as providing "significantly worse than average" protection for their occupants in the event of a crash.

Cultural references

The Festiva is the vehicle of choice for The Onion's fictitious columnist, Jim Anchower. He often struggles to come up with cash and materials to fix the car, usually jury-rigging or improvising crucial engine parts.

See also

• Kia Design and Manufacturing Facilities

References

• "1990-1993 Ford Festiva: Overview". Consumer Guide Automotive. 23 November 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
• "1994-1997 Ford Aspire: Overview". Consumer Guide Automotive. 23 November 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-20.

External links

• Ford Festiva.Com
• Ford Aspire.com - Aspire/Festiva online forum
• Archive of a writeup on the SHOgun from the Wayback machine
• Used Car Safety Ratings - Ford Festiva
• Ford Festiva Mailing List at Yahoo! Groups
• The Korean Garage A place for Festiva/Aspire owners to share their car with others and find performance parts retailers.