THE RIGHT STUFF
With a background in the VW scene, Steve Harris has taken a refreshingly-di erent approach with his outstanding Mk1 Fiesta project.
As classic hatchbacks go, there’s something about a well-modified Mk1 Fiesta that really stands out from the pack. That angular styling seems to have aged gracefully, more so than many of its contemporaries and they’re rare enough now to turn heads anywhere. When we first saw this stunning Mk1, built to an impeccably high standard by Outlaw Motorsport’s main man, Steve Harris we just had to find out more. 32-year-old Steve first got into cars through his Dad, Russ who was often to be found tinkering with classic Minis on the family driveway. “As I got older he bought a pair of Capris and started taking them to shows with me in tow,” he remembers. “The Capris were cool, but I soon began to like the Mk1 Fiesta and planned to buy one as my first car.” Sadly, a Mk1 as a first car failed to materialise for Steve as he struggled to even find one. “I ended up with a Mk2 Golf instead as there were more around for reasonable money at the time and that took me down the VW scene route,” he explains. “I moved on to VW Polos but was always still on the lookout for a Fiesta.” By complete chance, Steve stumbled upon a 1978 Mk1 in someone’s garden, and a quick enquiry revealed its owner was keen to sell. “It was a rare opportunity so I bought the car, took it home and began stripping it,” Steve recalls. “I’d already started to carry out a few repairs then typically I spotted another Mk1 for sale which had more potential, wore the paint shade I wanted at the time and it was already on the road.” After weighing up his options, Steve took the decision to sell his project Mk1 to a mate, who completed the rest of the work and to buy the Sierra Beige 957cc base model recently advertised. “This one was also built in 1978, but it was in fantastic condition with just 24,000 miles on the clock and one previous owner,” Steve explains. “I drove it the 50 miles home with a sticking calliper which was an interesting experience, but other than that it was ready to smoke around in.”
The original 12 inch steel wheels were quickly swapped for a set of Supersport four-spokes and the black bumpers replaced with chrome. “I then fitted a set of lowering springs and it stayed like that for quite a while,” Steve remembers. “Eventually GAZ coil-overs replaced the lowering springs and I fitted a set of Alleycats.” Steve’s Mk1 became well-known on the show scene, but once another four years of regular use had passed, the bodywork was beginning to show its age.
Big decision
“The major rebuild began in 2014 and I already had an idea of the new look I was aiming for,” Steve admits, “simple, effective and not too busy. There’s a stunning Mk2 Fiesta built by Carrera Bodyworks, which helped inspire me.”
As many of you will have discovered, finding any decent genuine panels for a Mk1 Fiesta has become almost impossible, unless you’re prepared to pay silly money. “I needed inner and outer wings, the front panel and a few others too. Many we came across had been victims of being stood outside at autojumbles for years,” Steve laughs. “I ended driving over to Germany just to pick up a sensibly-priced new genuine bonnet!” Steve’s Dad became more involved with the restoration and rebuild, his eye for detail along with his skills helped no end.
By now, Steve was keen to change the colour and bravely opted for brown — a colour many would dismiss given the choice. This isn’t your typical sombre brown though, the metallic paint with gold pearl skilfully applied by Dad, Russ on Steve’s Fiesta really suits the desired look perfectly. Along with that uber-rare USA-spec front grille, RS Motorsport front splitter and USA-spec rear lights, the exterior of this Fiesta is about as cool as you can get.
That stunning exterior paved the way for a change to the inside of the car too. In place of the spartan base interior, there’s now a pair of
RS2000 fishnet Recaros, RS three-spoke steering wheel and some subtle additions such as the rev limiter with launch control and that Racetech rev counter.
Despite the low mileage, that 957cc Valencia engine was no longer cutting it, Steve keen to replace it with something more potent. Rather than opt for a slightly predictable Zetec swap, Steve’s kept things old school, choosing a 1600 Crossflow as you’d find in a Mk1 Fiesta XR2. “It came to me as a standard engine needing a refresh, I took it to the guys at Cotterell Engineering for the machine work I needed,” Steve explains. “They’re a great family business that really know their old engines.” Rebored to 1700cc, the Crossflow now benefits from a Stage 3 head, blueprinted bottom end, 1300 pistons, steel rocker assembly and a Kent 224 Autocross cam providing a wide usable range from 1500 to 6500 rpm. The sound emitted from the twin Weber 40 DCOE carbs and Janspeed exhaust sounds the nuts too, while the XR2 four-speed gearbox complete with a Series 1 RS Turbo LSD copes with the extra grunt.
New lows
Obtaining that perfect stance was Steve and Outlaw Motorsport’s specialist area and unsurprisingly this Fiesta has become quite a showpiece for his own range of products. The GAZ Gold suspension is combined with Outlaw Motorsport custom springs, while the tubular rear arm set up, adjustable
Panhard rod and full bush kit are all from Steve’s own production line. The Rutland camber adjustable rear beam completes this well-thought-out chassis set-up and the stance is absolutely bang on.
Finished off with a set of period Graku competition three-piece split rims which contrast perfectly against the metallic brown paintwork and chrome, Steve’s quite rightly proud of what he’s achieved.
“THE WELL THOUGHT OUT CHASSIS IS NOW STEVE’S SPECIALIST AREA”