Your Opinion on the Ford Aspire?

[Festiva_Fred]

Just wanted to know your opinion on the Ford Aspire. I was looking around the local JY the other day and found a turquise SE with a spoiler, but I went back yesterday and they put it up on the top of a stack to be crushed It's a couple rows back so I can't get to it anymore
Anyway when I start the Festy search again I'll be looking at Aspires also so I'll either get a Festy or Aspire

[lastplace]

i have an aspire and ive never had or driven a festiva but i definitely like the festy styling a lot better. i also cant imagine how bad the braking and handling must be in a festiva to consider aspire parts as upgrades lol my aspire was torquise and i wish i had left it alone instead of spray bombing it but oh well. IMO the SE is hidious looking too. only because all of the 97's have an ugly front end. it looks to much like an escort

[collegeboi]

lol, I have driven an aspire and honestly don't like the feel of it. It is slower then the Festiva (200lbs extra weight). The styling of the Festiva is straighter while the Aspire is rounder which is another reason why I like it more.

On the other hand, If I could not get a hold of a Festiva then I would buy an aspire if it was cheap (I mean real cheap).

Btw, I was on this site for months (about 3-4) before I got an Festiva. I drove an escort before I found my baby.

[JPT]

I want an Aspire BAD! So bad in fact that I joined the FordAspire.com site before I even thought about joining this one. Where I live, finding an Aspire for sale is almost as hard as finding a Festiva and when you do find one, it's usually gone before you get there.

Even the junk yards are short on them.

Might be a while before I get the parts for the Aspire swap.

3 or 4 months before you found one? I went over a year before I got mine and the only reason I have one now is because I lucked into it.

[Sparky]

Back in 1992 or so, my wife and I each drove a Festiva daily....we participated in a market research project about car design. I figure this was being done for Ford because when we went into the warehouse where they were conducting this thing, we saw about ten different small cars, including what was to become the Aspire. We were asked our opinions about the strengths and weaknesses of each design (i.e. what was appealing about each in various areas like ease of ingress, placement of controls, amenities and looks).
I recall what I wrote about the car that became the Aspire: "This is a car that seems to be trying to be something it isn't meant to be. Small cars are meant to be light, reasonably comfortable, with a simple but appealing look. This car reminds me of a kidney bean. I also don't like the name. Too much like Expire."
I didn't mean that as anything really bad. The look and feel of the car didn't appeal to me after having owned two Festivas. I said a lot worse about some of the other cars! As you can now see, they certainly listened to my opinion!
These two cars are quite similar mechanically and one could do very well with either...just the Festiva bug bit me early and often, so I like them better.

[festymick]

Um, i hate them..... LOL!

Really though,
I have not had the pleasure of driving a pre 94 so i cannot compare.
However- the popularity seems to be alot higher with the pre 94 as opposed to post 94.
What this means to me is a higher amount of good, usable information, aftermarket parts, spares, kits and performance parts.

Having said that,
The Aspire is 'newer' so you would think that chances are higher to get a low milage version. The Aspire hasn't quite the following but has big potential with the right gear.

Michael.

[Festiva_Fred]

Um, i hate them..... LOL!

Really though,
I have not had the pleasure of driving a pre 94 so i cannot compare.
However- the popularity seems to be alot higher with the pre 94 as opposed to post 94.
What this means to me is a higher amount of good, usable information, aftermarket parts, spares, kits and performance parts.

Having said that,
The Aspire is 'newer' so you would think that chances are higher to get a low milage version. The Aspire hasn't quite the following but has big potential with the right gear.

Michael.

Wow! your Aspire most be the coolest Aspire on earth! If I get one your's will be my inspiration

[Sparky]

Of course, if all Aspires looked like Festymick's my opinion might change a bit.....dang that's a nice ride, man!!

[Ogrestiva]

Even the junk yards are short on them.

There are about 4 aspires in the junkyard by my house! Thats two more than it has festiva's.

I like some things people do with aspires, but its just that more appealing pulling up next to the guy with the Hummer, looking out the window and saying: "yeah, that's right...I'm compensating!" and then peeling out...Priceless.