FIESTA ST

Big turbo Mk7 Fez wearing an iconic fast Ford livery.

You never forget your first car; the excitement of the freedom a car offers is a memory that will last forever. Obviously, we try to forget all the scrapes, speeding tickets, and stacking a rear wheel into a kerb the first time we attempt a handbrake turn, but it’s all part of the fun.

Speaking to Adam Wood, the proud owner of this eye-catching Fiesta ST, it’s immediately apparent he has fond memories of his first car. “I bought a Mk4 Fiesta from my Mum when I was 18,” he remembers. “It was a Radiant Red 1.3 Encore. It was unbelievably slow, but like all 18-year olds, I still loved it.”

The Mk4 taught Adam a lot about the mechanical side of cars, and he soon learned to get stuck in. No job seemed beyond his capabilities, including ripping out the engine and replacing it with a 1.7-litre Zetec SE from a Puma. Regrettably, Adam had to sell the Mk4, but it was followed by a succession of Pumas, a Mk5 Zetec S, and then a Mk2 Focus ST.

Adam recalls, “The Focus was cool but I still missed my last Fiesta, so I bought another Zetec S, which I had big plans for.”

Gaining in mechanical confidence, Adam fitted a Puma engine, a Fiesta RS Turbo bodykit, Shawspeed cams, ST170 brakes, bucket seats, harnesses and numerous other mods. He admits, “I regret selling that one. It was as quick to 60 as my mate’s 336bhp ST. But by then I was commuting 25 miles instead of five miles a day to work, so I went looking for something more usable.”

Adam first came across this Molten Orange ST while he worked at GK Ford in Chesterfield. In fact, he prep’d the car for its PDI checks when it was brand new, so when it reappeared as a trade-in a year later with just 11k on the clock, he quickly struck a deal.

“It just needed my own touch putting on it,” Adam recalls, “a sat nav unit, Mountune exhaust, cruise control and a few sensible mods.” Well, that was the plan, but Adam