The Fiesta was initially only available in Europe with engines smaller than 1.3 litres. However, because it had always been envisaged to be Ford’s first ‘global’ car, the 1.6-litre ‘Kent’ engine had been part of the car’s engineering design specification from the start as the 1.3-litre car was just too slow for the US market.

Ford’s Dunton-based ‘Special Vehicle Engineering’ exploited this to create a fun pocket-rocket using a European version of the larger engine fitted with a performance cam and dual-choke Weber DFT carburetor. They also lowered the car by 25mm, stiffened up the suspension, added vented front disc brakes and low profile Pirelli P6 tyres on Wolfrace Sonic alloys.