Matty wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 8:29 am
That 1.3 Endura engine was fucking awful though

it was all noise, vibration and no power.
I think by that time it probably only cost Ford about 50p to make them, given that the same engine had been around for so long with a different name when they altered the fuelling.
My first normal car was a 1990 Fiesta 1.1 which needed a head rebuild at 3,000 miles - My great uncle had owned it for seven years from new, and it only went out once a week on full choke to do a 1.5 mile each way trip to the shops, never going above 30mph. When I bought if from him it was a struggle to get to 60mph.
I had the head skimmed and rebuilt (ports cleaned up, new valves) with a twin choke Weber fitted by a local carburettor specialist, and it became quite an enjoyable and revvy motor (still tappety, but they all were), and got 30-40mpg. It would to 6,000rpm in 5th on M1 - 115mph on the optimistic speedo!
Significantly better than the 1.3 Endura in the Fiesta that we had later on, which should never have been put in a car.