Ford Fiesta: award-winning excellence

The UK's best selling car returns in a new, award-winning incarnation with one of the best performing small engines on the market. Andrew Frankel takes a look

Ford Fiesta 1.0 Zetec 80

This model from £13,445

When you look at what it offers, it’s no real surprise that the Fiesta has been Europe’s best-selling car for years. No other car ticks so many of our boxes. Easily the best-looking car in this class and the best to drive too, it hammers home its advantage with an award-winning range of 1-litre petrol engines offering exceptional performance and economy.

It’s an uncommonly safe car too, every model boasting a total of seven airbags as standard. Drawbacks are few but include a slightly cheap look and feel to the cabin, and not as much room in the back as that offered by its most spacious rivals. One more tip: Fiestas are great but they are also plentiful, so always be prepared to haggle not a few hundred off the price, but a few thousand.