Year of Mazda Ford Festiva

The Ford Festiva was a subcompact car sold by the Ford Motor Company in North America, Asia and Australasia, introduced in 1986 in Japan. The car was manufactured by South Korean automaker Kia, which at the time was part-owned by Ford, and was based on the Kia Pride.

It was based on the Mazda DA platform, using Mazda's B Series four-cylinder engines. In later models fuel injection was used.

The Festiva was sold in North America from the 1988 to the 1993 model years. It was also sold in Europe and other markets (probably to avoid competition with the Ford Fiesta sold in these markets) as the Mazda 121 from February 1988 until 1991, when it was replaced by a rebadged Autozam Revue. It was sold as the Kia Pride in some regions. It replaced the Ford Fiesta in North America.

The first generation Mazda Demio was also sold in Japan as the Ford Festiva Mini Wagon.

In 1986, the subcompact Festiva was introduced in Japan, and it was introduced to North America and Europe (as the Mazda 121) in 1988. This Festiva sold well, and it fit into Ford's new marketing agenda of selling better built cars. Early in its life, it faced tough competition from the Yugo, which was slightly larger, and only cost $3,990 USD, but the Yugo quickly fell due to reported reliability problems. Initial sales were good, but by the 1990s, Festiva sales started to fall.

Festiva models sold in Japan and Mazda 121 models exported to Europe were built by Mazda in Japan. North American models were built under license by Kia Motors in Korea. After the original 121 model was discontinued in Europe, Kia started selling the Festiva as the Kia Pride — the first Kia model to be sold in this market.

The SHOgun

In 1990, Chuck Beck of Special Editions and Rick Titus took seven Festivas, gutted the interiors, and mounted Ford SHO 3.0L V6s behind the front seats to make the car mid-engined. There were substantial cosmetic and mechanical changes, including relocating the gas tank to the front of the car, structural bracing and improvements to the chassis, adding wider wheel arches to accommodate a wider stance and larger tires, and a complete redesign of the suspension. These changes resulted in a car that could accelerate from 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds, travel the ¼ mile (0.4km) in 12.9 seconds at 100.9mph (162km/ h), and could achieve a lateral acceleration figure ranging from .95 to 1.04g. Of the seven, Jay Leno owns the silver one, which is number 3.

Special Editions SHOgun #001 - Ron Gallo Special Editions SHOgun #002 - location unknown Special Editions SHOgun #003 - Jay Leno Special Editions SHOgun #004 - Rob Cook Special Editions SHOgun #005 - KJ Byrnes Special Editions SHOgun #006 - location unknown Special Editions SHOgun #007 - Chico "RangerPowerSports member"