Meet The Owner - Jordan Fenton and his 3 Fiestas

Jordan is a young enthusiast who is passionate about one car in particular – the Ford Fiesta! He owns three unique examples of this iconic car and he tells us all about them below.

1983 Mk1 Ford Fiesta 1.1L - named Lil Avvy!

This was my first classic Ford and one that holds a lot of sentimental value to me! I have owned this car for nearly 8 years now and in that time has created a lot of memories, friendships and has been the greatest of escapes for me.

My car lived most its life in Peterborough and had just shy of 80 thousand miles when I picked it up. The journey home was quite a memorable one and a whole story on its own. Torrential rain, very old wipers and candle stick headlights, to cut the story short, made for quite an interesting journey. It is the L model which comes with quite a few extras over the popular base models and my car was given a coat of Metallic Imperial red paint, which was an optional extra only available for a year.

I am currently fully nut and bolt restoring this car in memory of my mum who I sadly lost in 2022 after a cruel battle with Lymphoma. I cherish many photos and memories spent with mum as my co driver in the Mk1 and she loved it just as much as I do. Lil Avvy was like another grandchild to her! It really became part of the family.

My end goal with this car is to create one of the best examples out there as a representation of the mother she was to me, so I am fully committed to putting many hours, love and effort into getting it 100%. It has given me, and still does give me something to focus on during those difficult times and it means an awful lot to me. I stripped the shell myself and was assisted with the metal work and paintwork.

I am now currently in the early stages of rebuilding it myself which will be the greatest personal achievement when it is done, as this is my first nut and bolt restoration. I have plans to host my own ‘Cars and Coffee’ charity event which will be the first outing and reveal.

1988 Mk2 Ford Fiesta Popular Plus - named Poppy.

This was the most recent car to join my collection of early fiestas. I have owned this car around a year now. I always wanted a mk2 to join my collection at some stage to complete the trio and it came a little earlier than expected. This one come up at a time where I was not really looking for one, but I could not resist saving another! I purchased this car in Ipswich in 2023 but it was first registered in Norwich. Some digging revealed it came through the ‘Busseys of Norwich’ dealer.

It had 95 thousand miles on the clock and appeared to have been very well looked after for most of its life. There are your usual honest areas around the body which you would find on a 30+ year old car but it’s very original and I wanted to keep it that way, so I just use it as it is. Underneath was so solid with no signs of any repairs, which is great. I gave it a good polish as the Rosso red was starting to look a little dull and I lightly recommissioned it mechanically for peace of mind so I could use it for a few shows and casual outings. It’s been good as gold!

Some period dealer plates and stickers really finished the car off. I love the little details and keeping history alive. Within a few months of ownership, the car was spotted and selected for some filming in London for a known TV advert which was a fantastic experience! Despite the many hours getting it ready, it sadly did not make the final cut of the advert, but I had a great day and the car looked great in a period style set.

1991 Mk3 Ford Fiesta 1.6S - named Sylvia

Some people refer to it as a 1600 Sport and it was allegedly created for insurance purposes by Ford using left over spares from the Mk2 XR2 line. There is not a lot of information out there regarding this model as they didn’t make very many and there are even fewer left today. Some say Ford would create different editions to try help with sales if numbers fell on certain models. It essentially is a Mk2 XR2 in a modern (at the time) shell with base spec bumpers. Underneath was made up of a carb’d 1600 CVH straight from the Mk2 XR2, wider XR2 steel wheels, slightly bigger brakes to a standard model, sportier suspension, S wheel trims which look like LX trims but actually differ slightly- the list does go on, which made this a very exclusive model if you couldn’t afford a XR2I or an upcoming RS turbo!

I have owned this car for quite a few years, and it was quite the project that needed a lot of work to get it to where it is today. It had just over 60k miles and at the time I didn’t take much notice of it being a sport model because I just like it and it looks more like a base model.... until you look under the bonnet and see a 1600 CVH on a twin choke carb straight out of a XR2!

It was also because there was a lot of pieces missing which only the sport models would have, so it did just look like a standard MK3 Fiesta when I bought it. I started to do my research and accumulate the parts to put it back to standard, it was registered in Maidstone and was likely to have been supplied by ‘Haynes of Maidstone’. I rebuilt the top end of the engine as well as a whole list of other issues, which was time consuming having not worked on a many old Fords or a CVH before, but it was enjoyable and was worth it!

I felt like I was able to save a very rare model as there are very few 1.6S’ left! I’ve since done a lot of shows and been invited to various events with this car and a lot of the time people forgot such a model existed. I even won my first trophy with this car at Ford Nationals 2023 which I was overwhelmed by!

I am still yet to get a photo of all three together but I am holding out till I finish with the Mk1. Overall, my fiestas have been a huge learning curve and a massive escape for me. They’re quite a few years older than me and even though they’re very simple everything I do is usually a first!

I love being the next generation keeping them alive and more importantly keeping the memories alive for others. So many people approach me and share wonderful memories of the Fiesta.

Memories are super important to me so doing my bit to keep them on the road, see that smile or good reaction from someone when they notice the car, really makes it all so worth it! Something I’m very proud of.