Pointy - Pointless - Cool

There are a few design elements of the Fiesta that I found interesting, but didn't fit into any tidy category. Some of them caught my eye immediately and others I only notice after driving the car for a few days. So, here are three of the items that I noticed...in no particular order and with no particular theme. Hopefully Uncle Bill will find them interesting.

Wing Mirrors
I'm not a "Trekkie" - in fact, I maybe have seen one Star Trek movie and can't remember ever watching an entire TV episode but I have seen lots of William Shatner Priceline commercials.

So I do know a little...

I know Spock has pointy ears...

And that was one of the first things that came to mind when I saw the wing mirrors:



If you look closely at the right-side mirror there is a dotted line that marks the point where the mirror moves from basically flat to convex - allowing a better view of the car's blind spot. It works, but it also draws your eyes toward the outside of the mirror and to the pointy end and that is where it started for me.

My eyes were immediately drawn to the pointy part of the mirror and for the next 5 days, nightmares of Leonard Nimoy haunted me...

Disturbing? Yes

I worked things out - but I still don't think I'm a fan of the pointy mirrors.


Little Triangle Windows (I don't know what else to call them)
It took me a few days - and I can't even remember when I noticed them - to see these little triangle windows:










Located right in front of the wing mirrors, these little windows obviously help complete the design theme of the overall vehicle - but did they serve a functional purpose?

Would they angle open to direct outside air into vehicle cabin?...Nope.

Great for design - pointless for function.

Wheels
I love it in movies or TV shows when there is a shot of a moving car and the wheels are going just the right speed to make them appear as if they are actually turning backwards - you know what I mean. Well, if there was a casting call for this then the rims on my loaner Fiesta would get the part. They remind me of jet turbines and if there was a video of driving it, I'm sure that it would look like my wheels were going backwards.



There it is - the pointy, pointless and cool of this car.

In the Words of Kip Dynamite...

I didn't think I was going to write about it...

Uncle Bill may not care about it much...

But I still want to write about it.

So, what is it...?

Technology.

And I love it.

Well, love may be a bit strong, but I'm taking a cue from a clip from one of the finest examples of cinematic genius I have ever encountered.

Random Movie Clip Alert: if you haven't seen the movie, you may not understand the humor -- actually a lot of people who have seen the movie don't understand the humor. So, if your brow starts to furrow in complete befuddlement than just skip the clip; however, if you're like me, sit back and enjoy the melodic beauty of Kip Dynamite:

With that out of the way, I have to say that I was surprised at the level of technology in the Fiesta. From Bluetooth to automatic temperature control to automatic windshield wipers to voice activated everything, the array of features was unusually good. Especially since small cars have traditionally been roller skates on wheels - stripped down to sheet metal, tire rubber and a folding chair in order to lower the cost (insert Yugo joke here).

But even though the array of technology was impressive, the best feature was identified by my neighbor who, after his test drive, commented on the interactive voice in the car.

Huh? The car talks back?

That's right, when the voice activation button (see picture below) is pressed and a command is given, the car responds with a real voice


...of a woman

...with a British accent.

He loved it - and I agreed.

Everyone knows a British accent adds instant credibility.

And who really wants to hear a greasy guy's voice?

Add the two together and you get a soothing, credible voice to that made me want to politely reply "Thank you, and you have a nice day."

Now, I realize that this was a European-spec Fiesta and England is part of Europe, so it was only natural for the voice to have a European-feel. All I'm saying is, when the car launches here in the US, don't lose the British woman interactive voice.

If you lose the voice, my neighbor may lose the love...of the technology.

Orcas - Where can I find some Orcas?

I'll come clean:

• I have an engineering and business degree;
• I operate best with structure;
• I routinely have to check with my wife to make sure my choice of clothing "works" - or at least doesn't scream, "I got dressed in the dark this morning";
• I think in bullet points;
• My doodles are geometric shapes...

In sum, I live in a left-brained world. And that is the problem with this blog.

Why is this a problem you ask? Well, as I have grown-up I have noticed that Uncle Bill has dual citizenship in the left and right brain. And, often, when it comes to choice in cars, he pulls out his passport for the right.

So how do I speak the language of a right-brained person? How do I communicate the appealing aesthetics of the Ford Fiesta with only words and pictures? How do I convince my Uncle to buy a car he has not seen in person, when visual appearance is the main deciding factor?

The answer came - unexpectedly - in a conversation with my boss.

I had previously told him about my opportunity to drive the Fiesta and that I welcomed any input about how I could sell Uncle Bill a Fiesta through a blog. Later, he mentioned that he had read some of the write-ups of other Ford employees who had test-driven the car and there was one in particular that he liked.

"Have you seen the one with the killer whales?" he asked. "You need to find some killer whales."

Thoughts of some crazy, over-zealous Ford employee who had driven the car into the ocean just so he could get a photo-op with Shamu, went through my mind. He could tell I was puzzled so he said, "Check this out."

This is what he showed me:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41107624@N05/3794152374/in/photostream/

Ah! The secret is orcas.

No problem - find some orcas, snap a photo with the car in front...done.

Except where do you find an orca in Detroit? Or Southeast Michigan?

Don't worry, I didn't spend much time really looking for orcas (aside: orcas is one of those words that if said multiple times really starts to sound odd). But the message from my boss was clear. I needed to snap some photos of the Fiesta that somehow had a few shards of artistry to them - pictures that would appeal to the right-brained folks out there - like Uncle Bill.

On the Saturday that I had the car, I loaded up the family and we took a road trip through the back roads of Michigan. During the car ride, we started seeing barn after barn. Some old, some new and a lot of them refurbished.

So here is my attempt (however feeble) at a few right-brained pictures in front of my favorite barn (with special thanks to random guy Chris who let us drive on his lawn and snap some pics):


My apologies to Jed C. (Uncle Bill's nephew) who is quite an accomplished car photographer - but this is the best I could do.

My boss was partly right - I needed some appealing photography - but perhaps not orcas.

Didn't find them

Didn't need them

Oh, and one more photo that I need to include. This may not have much artistic value, but I liked it anyway - I call it the "angry insect."


I've got a few others to share - but I'll save them for the next post.

Sign on the Dotted Line

The first morning I had the car, I walked out of my house and there were two women standing there admiring -- not me -- the Ford Fiesta. They were my neighbors from about a block away whom I had never met.

Well now I know Dora and her walking friend. I forgot the name of the friend because Dora was the one who was enamored with the car. She knew the Fiesta was coming and she wanted to take a look - so, here is Dora:

No sales job needed.

All I had to do was open the door and let her take a look.

Dora was ready to buy.

Are the marketing folks listening? Dora is ready to sign on the dotted line. Chalk a sale up.

Front Row at the Restaurant

With a nearly new Ford Fiesta, I decided to take my wife out to eat...without the kiddos. We don't get the opportunity very often, so I always hope things go well. Well, they went well - especially our parking spot.

Going to a restaurant on a Friday night usually means long waits for seating and a walk from the parking lot that requires shoes with extra support and some icy hot for sore muscles.

Not this night.

When we pulled up to the restaurant, as expected the parking lot was completely full - including some parking-spot stalkers who were slowly hovering like a hawk waiting for its prey. I'm not a parking-spot stalker, so I was about to park a couple of miles away when I saw it...

The stalkers didn't want it

They couldn't have it

Their cars were too big...but mine wasn't.

There, near the curb, no more than 20 steps from the entrance to the restaurant was a parking spot perfectly sized for a Fiesta. With just a couple of simple maneuvers I was easily and comfortably parked in between a Lincoln Navigator and an SUV from one of those bailed-out car-makers. I didn't get video of it, but this is what it might have looked like:



Not really...but I did take a picture of the parking spot with the Fiesta lovingly nestled in. And, no, I did not make that dent on the bumper of the Jeep - but it's owner was watching me closely as I parked and gave me props for the parking job.



So back to Uncle Bill's checklist:

Maneuverable, easy to move through traffic or a parking lot - Check.

A Few Specs & Uncle Bill's Checklist

Before I get too far into the pictures and thoughts about the Fiesta's styling, I need to ground myself.

I need to stay true to my roots.

I have an engineering degree after all.

And I like to know the specs on a car.

When I first got into the car they there was a notebook with a few items that would help along the way. Inside, one of the items was a 2-page FAQ list to help me answer questions about the car. One in particular caught my eye:

Q: "What is the Fuel Economy?"

A: "We fully expect the fuel economy of this car to reach nearly 40 mpg."

Uh huh....right - nice politician's answer. I'm going to call them out on this one -- they are sandbagging -- under-promise and over-deliver. Now, I know the European engine won't be the same engine that is in the North American version, but I can't imagine it is going to be much different. The mileage I was getting was much better than "nearly 40 mpg."

In fact, a couple of times before my 20 mile commute, I reset the real time mpg gauge to see what mileage I would get. Without any coaxing and staying fully "off-the-line" competitive with my fellow commuters (you know what I mean), I got ~43 mpg......sweet. I'm sure that if I had nursed it even more I would be pushing into the high 40s.

So that is my experience with gas mileage. How about a couple of more specs?

• Engine: 1.6L TiVCT
  
• Horsepower: 119 hp

While 119 hp doesn't sound like much to us power-hungry Americans, the Fiesta didn't need anymore - I didn't want anymore. This car was meant to be nimble, quick, geared low and extremely responsive. Good news for Uncle Bill who wrote me and said:

"...[all of the cars on his list are] economical, small and nimble drivers cars. A bad car says 'do I have to?' when you press on the gas. A good car says 'OK lets go!' They don't have to be driven fast or hard to be enjoyed. But they do have to be responsive, manoeuvrable, easy to move through traffic or a parking lot."

Join me while I go through Uncle Bill's Checklist:

Economical - Check (see above)
Small - Check (see previous post)
Nimble - Check - you'll have to take my word for it - I took one 90 deg corner...fairly rapidly ;-) ...and the car didn't protest a bit.
A Good Car says "Lets go!" Check - the Fiesta was geared low and responded when I stepped on it.
Responsive - Check - I haven't experienced steering so tight since I was driving back in Europe and the car is so light & the brakes so good that it stopped on a dime.
Maneuverable, easy to move through traffic or a parking lot - Check - (check back in to see my answer to this one in the next post...)

Is it Bigger than a Bread Box?

Since I only have the Ford Fiesta for a few days, I've been driving...and not blogging. For some reason, "driving it like you stole it" beats the heck out of just writing about it - but I need to share. Anyway, I wouldn't have much to blog about if I just had left it parked in the driveway while I typed away on the computer.

Disclaimer: I haven't really driven it like I stole it because: 1) I didn't steal it; and 2) I haven't driven it through a shopping mall or through 4 ft of water while dodging artillery rounds (you can rest easy Sam dlG...if you're reading)

So now that I have plenty of material to blog about in the next few weeks, tune in to this channel every day or two and I will share. First, though, I need to show some basic pictures and give a few observations.

The car looks exactly like the car Jeremy test drove in the TopGear video I embedded in my first post - but here is a picture or two just in case you were too lazy - or too busy - to click on it in the first place. Oh, and the Ford guys were nice enough to give me a left-hand drive, instead of the right-drive Jeremy was driving.



These pictures give an idea of what the car looks like, but they do a poor job of showing the relative size. So, I will anticipate a couple of questions:

Q: Is it bigger than a breadbox?

A: Yes

Q: But is it bigger than a F-250 Super Duty Crew Cab Harley-Davidson edition with an 8 ft. bed?

A: Unusual question...but it just so happens I have some comparison pictures.



Nope, it's not as big as an F-250 Super Duty Harley-Davison Edition with an 8 ft. bed; however, the look of the front of the Fiesta seems to say, "Bring it." While the look on the front of Super Duty seems to ask, "Does it come equipped with a toothpick to clean the stringy parts out after I make roadkill of it?"

Seriously, the biggest drawback I see to driving the Fiesta is the fact that it will lose a battle with a big truck; and, it will take an awful lot of airbags and seat belts to protect the passengers. Obviously, the engineers are no dummies - but they know some (pun fully-intended) that can help make it as safe as possible. And besides, there are many other features that make the Fiesta worth buying.

What are they you ask? Keep reading and I will explain...

Introductions Please

Before I get rolling with my review of the Ford Fiesta, I need to introduce you to my Uncle Bill and why I chose to try and sell him a car. So let's open up the Uncle Bill file:

Age: 60-ish (Baby Boomer)
Occupation: VP of Design for the leading excercise machine company
Hobbies: Designing Houses, Driving Cars
Family: Wife, 6 kids (1 boy, 5 girls), a whole bunch of Grankids and one particularly impressive nephew
Visual: This is the only picture I could get from him because as he told me, "...I don't even take pictures of my kids, let alone pictures of me in my cars." So here he is with his Creamsicle Orange 1972 Porsche 914...ironically, in his car ... and with his kid (grandkid).

Over the years I have benefitted from what I call the "Uncle Bill Test Drive." He always seemed to show up in a great car and let me take a few laps. He prides himself on being either the first to own or the guy driving the unique car - as he says: "I ... don't like to see myself coming around every corner, so I am drawn to cars with small production runs. Or old. Or unpopular. Or foreign." True. In fact, here is a sampling of the cars he has / does own:

2008 Porsche Cayman
1972 Porsche 914
2006 Audi A3
2005 Pontiac Solstice
2001 Mini Cooper S
1998 Audi A4
1995 Infiniti Q45
1993 Ford Ranger
1991 Mazda Miata
1987 Volkswagen Jetta
1968 Mercedes Benz 280
1966 BMW 2002

Uncle Bill is what the marketing folks would call an early adopter. But I need to make a distinction here - I think he is an early adopter with regards to design and performance, but perhaps not technology.

Allow me to explain: he owns an iPOD Touch...but doesn't have anything on it or really know how to use it. Sorry Uncle Bill, your daughter, Amanda, ratted you out - and then I ratted her out - it's a vicious cycle. Anyhoo, I don't think he'll understand the following sentence:

"Btw I'll brb, sos so lol and I'll cu l8r."

Obviously, I'll need to sell him on the design, styling and performance, and maybe not spend too much time on the Bluetooth or USB port features.

FWIW - whoops, I mean - "for what it's worth" - I hope you didn't miss the Ford pick-up in the mix - even if he did call it an "aberration." So that is my challenge: add Ford Fiesta to this list - but this time not as an aberration, or a lapse in judgement or whatever.

Ford Fiesta + Blog = Selling a Car

It was an afterthought - I did it just because I had 5 extra minutes on a slow Friday afternoon. I really didn't think they would take my submission seriously...but they did, and I ended up with 5 days with European-spec Ford Fiesta.

Huh?

Allow me to explain: Ford is promoting their new global car the Fiesta that has already landed in Europe and Asia but doesn't arrive in the US until early 2010. Also, the Ford marketers have acquired quite a fixation with social networking lately. So combine the two and you get a marketing plan to demonstrate the merits of the Fiesta through social networking...genius (tic).

So back to my slow Friday afternoon. Every day I receive somewhere between 3 and 300 corporate Ford emails ranging from "2nd Quarter Earnings" to "Found: silver hoop earrings found in the men's restroom near Zone 2J." OK I made that last one up, but it's not too far off...but I digress. An email popped up inviting us to submit a plan for what we would do if we were given a European-spec Ford Fiesta for 5 days and how we would share the experience with our friends.

I ain't no dummy.

I had a few minutes of spare time.

I have a British Driver's Licence (spelled with a "c").

And I know how to blog - or at least my wife does and I've watched her do it tons of times.

So I spent 5 minutes and weaved a tale about how I would use the Fiesta, drive it like a European and then blog about it...and they chose me to be one of forty drivers during the summer of 2009.

That was back in June...I think...and they didn't give me the opportunity to drive one until now. In the meantime, I have read the write-ups of other employees that - with all due respect to them - can be summarized like this:

• I was excited to get the car
• I didn't think I would get as much attention as I would
• People were slowing down to take pictures of the car
• My friend - who is 6'7" got in and was surprised at how well he fit in the car
• ....Yawn...
• I drove somewhere and parked it somewhere where people could see it

I can do better than that - in fact I had something like this in mind:

Obviously, as much as I would have liked to attempt an amphibious assault with a Fiesta, I just signed an agreement that basically said that if anything happened to the Fiesta while I had it they would make me listen to Neil Diamond while being waterboarded...or something like that. So no amphibious assault. Instead I decided to do what all Ford employees have been asked to do: Sell Cars.

Now - finally to the purpose of this blog and how I will fulfill my responsiblity as a Fiesta driver and a good Ford employee: I am going to attempt to sell a Fiesta ------ to my Uncle Bill.

Aside: If you hadn't connected the dots yet, you should now understand the URL for this blog...

For the next couple of weeks, I am going to be driving the Fiesta and blogging about topics that may - or may not - encourage my Uncle Bill to buy a Fiesta. Success will be seeing Uncle Bill's name on the order bank that opens up somewhere in the Winter / Spring of 2010.

Buckle Up...