So many of our favourite hot hatches are the simple ones: add lots of power to a small car, beef up everything else to give it a fighting chance, and you’re halfway to a winner. Make a small, fast car vaguely affordable and almost stylish and bob’s your uncle.
Which is why the 2013 Fiesta ST was such a hit. Familiar ground now, of course, but in opting for traditional thrills rather than a total reinvention Ford struck gold. Tens of thousands of Ecoboost STs found homes across Europe in the first three years of its life. Great value and great fun, buyers lapped the ST up. The mid-2010s never seemed so long ago.
But the Fiesta was so back to basics in its approach to hot hatchery that it overlooked a crucial area of the buying market: those who’d benefit from rear doors. It launched with three doors and was for sale like that until the end of 2016 and the arrival of the five-door; when the Mk8 launched at Geneva in March 2017 and went on sale a few months later, there wasn’t long for the Mk7 five-door to sell. And plenty of folk would surely have waited for the new car before getting their family-friendly pocket rocket. So there can’t be many.
Indeed it proved such a popular configuration that by 2022 the Fiesta ST had switched to five-door only, so the introduction of that derivative for a few months in the 2010s was quite significant. And well worth seeking out now, because for sheer thrills and silliness the 1.6 ST might have the later 1.5 beat.
Certainly for £5,500, as this one costs, it’s hard to think of what more fun there is to have with five doors and on three wheels. This ST-3 is now showing a six-figure mileage, but doesn’t look bad on it, and was serviced last month; those gigantic Recaro seat bolsters are intact, and the interior doesn’t seem any worse than it did when new. The kids will be fascinated by wind-down windows in the back, and your bottom will appreciate the volcanic heated seats. The wheels need a refurb as desperately as cheap tyres need replacing, but that’s hardly the end of the world.
With comparable Clio 200s still more money (and of course auto-only), plus the later Mk8 only available from £10k, the old ST’s case becomes even stronger. It’ll suit shopping trips, school runs, B-road blasts and anything else required. Which is probably why five-door hot hatches are now the only ones you can buy. There can’t be many as rare, engaging and affordable as this.
SPECIFICATION | FORD FIESTA ST-3 FIVE-DOOR
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo
Transmission: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 182@5,700rpm (200hp w/overboost)
Torque (lb ft): 177@1,500-5000rpm (214lb ft w/overboost)
0-62mph: 6.9 sec
Top speed: 137mph
MPG: 47.9 (NEDC combined)
CO2: 138g/km
Year registered: 2017
Recorded mileage: 108,000
Price new: £19,800 (ST-2)
Yours for: £5,559
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