Mint Mk1 Ford Fiesta is coming to auction

By Lizzie Pope

| 18 Jan 2019

Classic & Sports Car – Mint Mk1 Ford Fiesta is coming to auction

There must be something in the air, as hot on the heels of the news that a 131-mile Peugeot 309 GTi is going under the hammer next month is another timewarp, everyday stunner.

Step forward this 141-mile 1978 Ford Fiesta 950 that’s never been registered.

What’s more, its incredible, as-new condition is due to it being exhibited and stored at the Science Museum in London between 1980 and 2017.

Chassis BAFBUM58259 was built in July 1978 and supplied new to Ford Personal Import/Export Ltd, who’d not registered the car for road use when the Science Museum acquired it two years later.

Until 2015, the Fiesta formed part of the ‘Glimpses of Medical History’ gallery, demonstrating assistive technology for helping an elderly person get into and out of a car.

When the floor it was housed on was closed for refurbishment, It was initially put into storage. Museum bosses then decided to remove it, and realised that to do so they’d have to cut it into pieces, as the lifts were too small for it to fit in.

Fortunately, Darren Wisdom, who was working on the site in 2017, saved it from that fate by creating a bespoke jig to facilitate its removal. He then recommissioned the hatchback and it passed its first-ever MoT test last April.

When Paul Kingham of the Ford GT Historic Register checked it over soon after, he reported that “all key aspects of the vehicle are authentic and original including chassis, suspension, steering, transmission, matching original engine and even its paintwork.”

Included in the car’s file is a receipt stating that Wisdom sold it to Richard Jordan on 29 June 2018 for £11,550 – but what will it sell for now? Its pre-sale estimate is £6500-8500.

Fancy this special hatch? It will be sold on 2 February at H&H Classics’ first Auction Online and Damian Jones, the auction house’s Head of Sales, says, “This is a highly original and authentic Ford Fiesta, go find another! This is truly a one off. It is perhaps the lowest mileage Ford Fiesta Mk1.”

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