Front of Ford Fiesta 1.3 1997 SilverMy first car - a 1.3 Ford Fiesta

Call Sign: “Fester”

The first car I ever owned was a silver 1.3 Ford Fiesta, S-reg (1997) which quickly became known as “Fester” – creative I know. The Fiesta was bought for me and my sister to share by my parents so I was driving it from 17 years of age, cruising around Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire and really showing those BMW’s and Audi’s a thing or to. Or so I thought at least.

Ford Fiesta 1.3 Silver 1997
No turbo’s to be seen here…

Boasting a 0-60 mph time of around 3 days this car was never a match for anything around me which was a particularly good move made by my parents. If I’d been given a powerful machine for my first car I’m almost certain I would have rolled it into a hedge, much like many of my mates who had decent powered cars bought for them. Unfortunately this included both a fresh off the forecourt Volkswagen Golf GTi and Ford Focus ST.

Fester came with me to university in Bournemouth which unfortunately meant turbo charged rusting paintwork from the sea air and a maze of speed bumps to navigate which unfortunately resulted in *ahem* 3 broken wishbones (thanks for paying for those, dad!)

The Fiesta was a great first car and I have many happy memories with her including numerous 18th birthday parties, drives to and from 6th form with friends and even taking her on a beach. She was extremely reliable, never once breaking down on me and managed to successfully negotiate all types of terrain with (relative) ease. Her only real challenge was maintaining speed whilst travelling up a hill… which, naturally, taught me the art of downshifting!

What came next?

I owned the Fiesta for a happy 6 years from 2003 to 2009, before making quite an upgrade to my 2nd car…

Honda Civic Type R 2005 Black
The car I had always dreamed of owning, my Honda Civic Type R

Read about my 2nd car and experience of owning a Honda Civic Type-R here.

By Nick

Nick is the founder of Life of Man with a passion for trying out the latest technology, eating out at the best local restaurants, trying the latest IPAs hitting the craft beer scene travelling the world. As a parent Nick loves to spend time with his family and write about days out as dad blogger.

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