No siesta in this Fiesta – only fun

BUT, OH DEAR: GREY? REALLY? BUDGET FOR A RESPRAY

Brendan Seery

If dull were a colour, it would definitely be grey. That’s the hue we associate with the mousy bank manager or the clerk who disappears into the background. It’s the colour of rain and bad weather. It’s uniform and monotonous.

So, why, oh why, do manufacturers of cars insist on clothing some of their best creations in this bland shade?

OK – perhaps not all car makers, but Ford has certainly nearly ruined two of its recent hot hatches by doing just that … at least to the media test cars of the Ford Focus ST and its little sibling, the Fiesta ST200.

Here’s my theory: these cars are designed and made in Europe by the spiritual successors to Ford’s famous Advanced Vehicle Organisation which, over the decades, brought us cars like the Lotus Cortina, the RS Escorts and Capris and the organisation’s rally cars.

Europe, as we all know, is one of the greyest places on Earth. In the northern parts, it rains and snows for most of the year and a patch of blue sky often has city dwellers reaching for their bikinis.

And when you drive on European roads your car quickly gets covered in slush – which is grey. So maybe the theory was: paint the thing grey and you won’t have to wash it all that often.

In South Africa, that dull colour does a grave disservice to the Fiesta ST200 which, for my money anyway, is the best car in Ford’s current line-up.

“Better than a Mustang?” I hear you ask. Yep. It’s not as fast. Nor does it have a brawny V8 engine. But it costs a quarter of the price and delivers just as much fun than the muscle car.

With 200 horsepower (147kW) on tap, the little Fiesta is quick, although local road testers have found that it is slightly edged in the performance stakes by its arch-rival, the Volkswagen Polo GTI.

Round a track, though, the Ford would eat the Polo and spit out the pieces, I’m afraid to say (and that’s the VW fan in me saying that, too).

The Fiesta’s size is its greatest weapon. It feels like it envelops you and you know exactly where each corner of the car is – and it is not far away.

You quickly come to feel that the car is an extension of your legs and arms and throwing it into corners is a tactile pleasure.

Not that you have to take any chances, either, because the Fiesta is fun at the sort of speed where you won’t get into trouble.

It’s got tight, figure-hugging racing seats, and red trimming inside the cabin lends a racy air, as does the special ST200 interior badging.

Some years ago, I had one of the previous Fiesta STs on test, which had a 2.0 litre motor delivering “only” 115kW or so.

But I put on more mileage in a week than I have done in many other more expensive and fancier cars. It was just such fun to drive.

The Fiesta ST200 follows in those footsteps. If you love driving for the sake of driving and if extreme, dangerous, performance doesn’t do it for you, then there are few better cars on the road.

But, if you buy one, bear in mind most of the 140 imported into this country are grey – so budget for a respray ...