Junkyard Gem: 1997 Ford Aspire 3-Door Hatchback

Quick, what’s the oldest car platform still being mass-produced somewhere in the world? A case could be made for the mid-1980s-vintage Kia Pride, derivatives of which are still being built in Iran and possibly Venezuela. We knew the first generation of this car as the Ford Festiva, sold here for the 1988 through 1993 model years. The slightly larger (but otherwise pretty similar) second generation got a name change for North America, becoming the Ford Aspire. The Aspire didn’t sell as well as its predecessor, and it’s tough to find examples of this machine in car graveyards today. Here’s one that appeared in a Denver-area boneyard recently.

The Festiva and Aspire were designed by Ford ally Mazda and built in South Korea by Kia Motors (which got its start in the car business by assembling vehicles for other companies). The Aspire was sold here for just the 1994 through 1997 model years. This one was built in May 1997, so it’s one of the very last U.S.-market Aspires ever sold.

It’s all Mazda here, mechanically speaking. This is a Mazda 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine, rated at 63 horsepower.

These cars aspired to acceleration but mostly failed to achieve it. This one was handicapped further by its three-speed automatic transmission, which added 660 bucks to the price (that’s about 1,262 bucks in 2023 terms).

It was cheap. MSRP on the three-door for ’97 with manual transmission was $9,195, or about $17,577 in today’s money.

You had to look hard to find a cheaper new car in 1997. The cheapest Geo Metro (soon to become a Chevrolet) that year cost $8,580 ($16,401 now), while the most affordable ’97 Hyundai Accent was $8,599 ($16,438 today). The Metro-sibling Suzuki Swift listed at $8,999 ($17,202 after inflation).

Just over 140,000 miles, which isn’t so bad for a disposable econo-commuter.

Did the sandbag behind the front seats help the handling on snow and ice?

Aspire to be smart with your money.

In its homeland, this car was known as the Kia Avella.

So many standard features on the Iranian version!