Ace of Base: 2019 Ford Fiesta ST

It’s August 2019 and your author is pouring one out for little Blue Oval hatchbacks with mouths to match their trousers. Soon to depart from our shores (North American-market production has already ceased), the Focus and Fiesta represented bite-sized bits of fun that weren’t overly expensive and looked a bit derivative. Alas. At least we still have Honda, and it must be noted that Hyundai is stepping up its game in this segment.

For now, one can configure a 2019 Fiesta ST even if it is getting difficult to find them on dealer lots. Today’s post assumes the ST trim is a base car, insofar as we will be adding $0 in options to the sticker price.

We’ve played this game before ⁠— over two years ago, before Jim Hackett took the reins at Ford and decreed that all cars must be placed in the corporate dumpster. Back then, a no-frills Fiesta ST cost $21,140. Two years later, that price has risen by just $200 … and you can bet incentives are a lot higher these days. Any sane dealer will move one of these things post haste to make room on the floorplan for a high margin truck or SUV.

The hues of Orange Spice and White Platinum remain $595 options, so we’ll stick with the Magnetic shade shown here, especially since we chose Shadow Black last time. With 17-inch aluminium wheels, a zoomy spoiler jutting from the roof, and an angry slash down its flanks, this is not a bad looking car. It will avoid sneers given to racy new Civics by those who think they look too aggro and escape the guffaws directed at fast Golfs by people who deride them as too milquetoast. Ford designers walked a good line here.

Inside’s a similar story, with a Sync3 system replacing the button-laden base model infotainment that looks like Worf’s forehead. That tilt and telescope wheel is leather wrapped with red stitching and the cloth sport front buckets are adorned with the ST logo.

That’s a six-speed manual, of course ⁠— the only available transmission. It stirs the pot on a 197 horsepower 1.6-liter EcoBoost mill that also heaves out 202 lb-ft of torque. To say that’s a lot in a car weighing about the same as an amoeba is cruelly understating the situation. The Fiesta ST’s penchant for alert and happy handling is well known.

Options are few and you should leave them all on the table. Recaro seats and a moonroof cost $1,995 and $795 respectively, with the latter simply adding weight up top and the former forcing the huskier driver to contemplate their breakfast choices. Neither is a necessary burden to carry through one’s life.

The phrase “you’ll miss it when it’s gone” gets thrown around a lot. Here, it actually applies.

Not every base model has aced it. The ones which have? They help make the automotive landscape a lot better. Any others you can think of, B&B? Let us know in the comments. Naturally, feel free to eviscerate our selection.

The model above is shown in American dollars with American options and trim, absent of destination charges and available rebates. As always, your dealer may sell for less.

[Images: Ford]