1989 Ford Orion Ghia 1.6i from UK and Ireland
Summary:
Top performance and reliability for little money! bargain!
Faults:
Burst top hose.
Burst other main hose.
Broken alternator bracket.
Exhaust started to hang low in mid section.
General Comments:
Its such a fun car to drive, it accelerates quickly and goes like stink.
My previous car was a 2ltr sierra and compared to this it was a 1.0ltr fiesta.
Its handling could be better, but that is possible the only thing I would change - lack of power steering! but expected for a car of this size with no pas!
Brakes are very responsive and for a 13year old car it has very little rust! only a patch in left rear wheel arch!
So far a top speed of 140 - but the clock stops there!!!
Very reliable only broke down fully once and that was a flat battery! other times were the hoses which only cost 10.00 in total to replace.
Has been fitted with ice (in car entertainment) only prob with it on the installation side is that the under rear parcel shelve cannot be cut to fit speakers. so another parcel shelve had to be made to sit on top!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 22nd November, 2002
30th Sep 2003, 06:03
You sound just like me when I had one as a younger man for my first company car. It was brand new and I loved the performance (I also got 140 out of mine down a big hill in a straight line - very scary). I agree that the handling is stodgy due to soft suspension and lack of power steering would not be tolerated these days, but I liked it without.
Funnily enough, I also tried putting a big sound system in mine and had to jigsaw the rear parcel shelf to fitthe speakers (Company Car!!!)
I loved it, but managed to blow it up due to excessive thrashing.