Ford Of Britain 100: Image Of The Week - 15/52

BRENTWOOD, UNITED KINGDOM – April 13, 2011: To celebrate the centenary of Ford of Britain in 2011 the company is exploring its photo archive to reveal rarely seen images.

Ford's unique relationship with Britain and its society will be illustrated each week by specially selected pictures.

This week's image goes back to 1976, a year of innovation and launches. Concorde began transatlantic flights, the VHS video cassette recorder was unveiled and, in Europe, a new small Ford, codenamed Project Bobcat, was launched as the Ford Fiesta.

Born out of the energy crisis of the 1970s the Fiesta was personally approved by Henry Ford ll. To create a small yet practical car Ford invested over one billion dollars, its highest investment for a single car. The contemporary design and fuel efficient 1.0- and 1.1-litre engines proved popular and just 32 months after launch the one-millionth Ford Fiesta drove off the production line.

Today, Concorde sits in a museum and VHS videos are consigned to the archive but the Fiesta name continues. A combination of dynamic styling, pioneering technology and advanced engineering ensures the Ford Fiesta of 2011 provides as much fun and frugal driving today as it did 35 years ago.