The New Generation – Emma Cater’s Ford Fiesta Popular Mk. I

There is a growing number of cars that make the observer feel their age – cars such as Emma Cater’s 1981 Ford Fiesta Popular Mk. I. Not only is it a prime example of a once familiar and now rare vehicle, but at the age of 23, Emma is one of the new generation of classic car enthusiasts. To put such figures in context, the equivalent for an enthusiast born in 1969 – such as myself – would be owning a 1948 Ford Anglia E494A.

We met Emma’s Fiesta last year, and her views on driving a car from another era are:

It is quite an easy car to drive, really. My Fiesta is a more modern classic, and I appreciate that very much! It is really nice to be actually connected to the car when you drive! Not just a computer!

The Popular brand dates back to 1953, when it was introduced on the 103E, a version of the Anglia E494A, so Spartan that it lacked a passenger windscreen wiper and indicators. The 1959 Popular 100E and the 1975 Escort Popular Mk. II continued in this tradition of low-budget motoring.

And in 1980, Ford introduced the Fiesta Popular -

At £2,849 it was over £300 cheaper than the Fiesta ‘Standard’, itself so miserably equipped that it even lacked fresh air vents. But Ford GB was practised in the art of stripped-specification motoring, so the Popular was devoid of such frivolities as a rear parcel shelf, a dipping rear-view mirror and a passenger sun visor.

Nor did the Popular’s lack of luxury cease there as the equipment list lacked reclining front seats, a heated back screen, a rear wiper, and reversing lights. Even servo-assisted brakes were an optional extra, and the Popular also lacked indicator repeaters. My favourite economy is windscreen washers, operated by a floor-mounted manual pump.

But what the Fiesta Popular did offer the buyer was a smart-looking three-door hatchback for a little more than the price of a Mini City. The Vauxhall Chevette ES was the Popular’s nearest rival at £2,884, but that was rear-wheel-drive, while the Fiesta was front-wheel-drive and had a more youthful image.

The Mk. II replaced the Fiesta Mk. I in 1983, and the numbers of Populars diminished to the point that Emma’s Sunset Red example frequently turns heads. She believes:

Most people are quite shocked to see a young girl driving a car like that! It then often leads to people asking how much I’d be willing to sell the Fiesta for, and the highest offer I have had for it is 10k. I am not really willing to let it go at the moment, as it really feels like an asset and is still a work in progress! My family has never collected classic cars, but I enjoy tinkering with and fixing them.

And the classic car movement needs more enthusiasts like Emma – enthusiasts who preserve once familiar cars from the past. Especially the Ford Fiesta Popular Mk. I, the car with a “self-adjusting clutch” as a luxury feature.

With thanks to Emma Cater for her time.

With thanks to Emma Cater for the permission to use the images in this blog.