MK1 FIESTA HILLCLIMB AND SPRINT CAR
Not even a global pandemic could stop Michael Sutherland from turning dreams of a sprint-focussed, concours-clean Mk1 Fiesta into reality. This is the awesome result.
Michael Sutherland;’s put everything he knows into building this sprintspec screamer and now the superblyfinished Fiesta is about to hit the competition venues of Scotland.
The ascent of the first-generation Fiesta from relative obscurity to classic Ford royalty is, we think, one of the more fascinating automotive tales of recent years. After all, It wasn’t so very long ago that Project Bobcat devotees were viewed with a mix of resentment and derision. The established old Ford order — the world of Escorts, Capris and Cortinas — had closed ranks, and for a while it seemed as if a rear-wheel drive powertrain was a fundamental pre-requisite for entry into this slightly cliquey, increasingly expensive to access, club.
For those involved in club level motorsport however, the first-gen Fiesta has always been a worthwhile undertaking. Nimble and blessed with keen handling out of the box, legions of real-world competitors have learned their craft at the wheel of Ford’s first hatchback, while its ability to accommodate more dramatic hikes in performance means that it remains a potent (if increasingly rare) proposition today, two decades into the 21st century.
Michael Sutherland probably counts himself among the Fiesta’s more ardent
adherents having bought his first example back in the mid 2000s, effectively the last gasp era of the cheap-as-chips Mk1. This car would in time be pressed into active service in the Scottish autocross championship having first been treated to a tuned 1700 Crossflow.
“It was a good car, that. Really competitive,” muses Michael. “Competition eventually took its toll though, and by the time the series folded around 15 years ago, the shell was looking tired and bit sorry for itself. I removed, then stored the engine and other bits, but the shell rotted away to nothing on a friend’s drive.”
New order
Michael’s next opportunity to acquire a Mk1 occurred many, many years later in 2012, when a close friend bought a car from Somerset and drove it back up the road to Thurso, initially with a plan to modify and enjoy it himself. That plan fell through after just one summer of driving, which, from Michael’s perspective, left the door open for sales negotiations to begin in earnest.
A deal was duly struck (because of course it was) and the car changed hands, after which Michael took the bone-stock, 1100cc car to his local track (via an MoT pass), Golspie, for a test day. There, the 44,000-mile car received a day-long thrashing — and it didn’t miss a beat. Back home and with his confidence in the car soaring, Michael set about taking it apart, one eye fixed unswervingly on the next round of the British Sprint Championship in Kirkistown.
Michael spent most of that summer imbuing his latest purchase with new-found performance via his expansive store of trick parts, the most significant of which was the Crossflow from the old autocross car. A fibreglass boot and bonnet, a half-cage, uprated brakes and buckets followed soon after.
Weeks later and with a late afternoon slot at his local dyno booked — ferry, ditto — Michael seemed all set for a weekend spent turning hydrocarbons into noise and smell…until, grabbing third leaving the rolling road and heading for home, his clutch disintegrated. A night of intense effort to rectify the situation duly followed, all played out under the unflinching gaze of the clock.
Stressful and frantic as this endeavour was for Michael there can be no arguing that it was worth it. The bottle green Fiesta was placed in the 1700cc or less class and thus faced-off against a field largely composed of various Civics, most notably a seriously sorted Civic Jordan. By all accounts it should’ve been a drubbing, but it wasn’t: a mix of good driving and inch-perfect handling saw the unlikely pairing to class honours. Not bad for a 40-year-old Fiesta with an open diff.
Fast exit
The Fiesta’s late 1970s origins couldn’t be denied forever, however, and things came to a dramatic head at Boyndie kart circuit in the September of 2019. All associated with the car were keen for a solid, morale-boosting lift to carry them through a long, cold winter, but fate evidently had other ideas:
“I’d just crossed the start-finish line flat out on a hot lap and so let off the throttle soon afterwards, only for a rod to shoot through the block taking out the camshaft on its way out. I found part of it sitting on the crossmember when I pulled into the pits!”
The only trace of a silver lining to be found was that Michael at least had the ideal opportunity to rebuild better, faster and stronger in readiness for 2020. The first piece of that particular puzzle had already been secured before the cam-free Fiesta had been rolled back into its trailer for the return trip to
“IT WAS TIME TO REBUILD THE FIESTA STRONGER AND FASTER”
Scotland: a new, competition-spec Crossflow. There was an issue, though, and that was that this engine was still bolted to Fiesta and the seller wasn’t willing to countenance the idea of splitting the two. Try as he might, Michael was unable to convince the seller to part with the Crossflow alone and with his self-imposed deadline looming ever closer, he bit the bullet. A few hours later, two Mk1 Fiestas lurked in the Sutherland family lock-up.
If this were a 1980s all-action blockbuster instead of a magazine feature, then this is the point when an orchestral score would strike-up and a montage of grinding, welding and re-engineering commence. In lieu of this, Michael set to work in the old school, conventional way — with swearing, skinned knuckles and hammers.
Michael’s already tight deadline was lent further impetus by being called away for a work commitment, which effectively robbed him of the whole of autumn and forced him to condense an already ambitious project into an even tighter time frame. Thus, it was between December 2019 and February of last year that the Fiesta finally evolved into the car you see here, an undertaking effectively kicked into motion when Michael stripped, then sandblasted it.
This done, he was able to turn his attention to ridding the shell of what little rot had been uncovered through the judicious application of high-power sand, then set about the rather galling task of chopping and tubbing the pristine rear arches. “A big step and not one I took lightly, they really were mint.”
Global interruption
It was about this time that global events outside of Michael’s control began to make themselves known. It goes without saying that a global pandemic has the potential to throw a spanner into even the best oiled and most carefully machined of works, and so it proved with Michael’s Fiesta.
Again, though, there was the merest chink of a silver lining to be spied — even if actually spying it required a degree of lateral thinking! A self-confessed clean freak when it comes to his cars, Michael now had ample time to get fully acquainted with every finger-tight nut, mismatched bolt and paint run still on the shell, while the promise of a feature in this very publication and ensuing photoshoot provided all the impetus he needed to get stuck in.
“I worked out that the car has covered approximately 12 miles since its rebuild at the beginning of last year, and half of those were to and from the MoT test centre!”
It’s frustrating, of course, but good to know that the car is very much ready to go whenever the world returns to normal.
This means that Michael is effectively in the same boat as everyone else right now; desperate for the uncertainty of Covid to be banished once and for all, and champing at the bit to get back out into the world.
The only difference is that Michael happens to own a deeply entertaining, Type R-humbling Fiesta, ready to go whenever that might be. We’re not envious in the slightest, honest.
“CUTTING AND TUBBING THE REAR ARCHES WAS A BIG STEP AND NOT ONE I TOOK LIGHTLY THEY WERE MINT”