My first car is also the last of its kind

This is a slightly different first-car story to most.

That’s partly because the story hasn’t finished – my first car, a Ford Fiesta ST, is still in the driveway, and despite regular late-night searches of the classifieds for ‘project cars’, it’s the only car I’ve ever owned.

It is no secret traditional hot hatches like these aren’t long for this world, as governments mandate car companies switch to building electric cars over the next decade or so.

Ford has already killed off the Fiesta in Australia, and later this year will do so overseas, which makes this car, well, the actual last of its kind.

Reading and listening to the first-car stories of my colleagues – which you can read here – (and their regretful sales) affords me, in theory, some early hindsight to do everything I can not to let this one go too soon.

The story behind how I came to be with this Ford Fiesta ST isn’t filled with too many twists and turns, and admittedly the age and nature of the car means there haven’t been all that many trials, tribulations or hair-rising moments in owning and driving it.

But that doesn’t mean I like it any less, or will have any easier time selling it when it may eventually come time to move on.

I have never been particularly infatuated with fast Fords, rather just an appreciative observer, and instead a keen fan in the dying breed of small, sporty cars.

I am very aware that having the ability to buy an essentially new car – particularly a ‘toy’ like this – is a luxury and a privilege, which is something many people aren’t lucky enough to experience.

The pool of options on the table for me ranged from the likes of the Mazda MX-5, Subaru BRZ and Hyundai Veloster Turbo, to a Suzuki Swift Sport, Ford Focus ST/XR5 or Volkswagen Polo GTI.

However, I struggled to fit in the MX-5 (or its Abarth 124 Spider twin), and the Subaru and Volkswagen just didn’t gel with me. As every other option was whittled away, a Fiesta ST – current or previous generation – remained on the list.

I subscribe to the ‘buy the safest car you can afford’ philosophy – and have experienced advanced safety technology such as autonomous emergency braking first-hand (as a passenger, not the driver) – so I was very keen on a car with these systems, if my budget could make the stretch.

I came closest to buying, first, a Suzuki Swift Sport, and then a Hyundai Veloster Turbo, but something about each car – at the prices they were advertised for – didn’t really do it for me.

Which is how I ended up tracking down on the NSW South Coast, and buying after some shrewd negotiation on the price (before the era of stock shortages!), a Ford Performance Blue, sunroof-less Fiesta ST.

After covering 8000km in it over two years – safe to say it’s used more as a weekend or occasional car than an all-day, every-day commuter – I’ve come to really understand how much of a shame it is that little driver’s cars like these are going away.

Not just this car, but all not-too-big, not-too-small five-door, three-pedal hot hatchbacks. I reckon they’re the best kind of performance car.

Compliant enough to suit potholed city-street use, but large enough for ferrying people (though perhaps not in comfort) and some luggage. Quick enough to break the law, but rowdy, loud and engaging enough that you can generate smiles under the posted limit.

Jumping back into the Fiesta after a drive in a road-test review car, which can range from family SUVs to complex electric and hybrid cars, continually cements this belief.

Each of the car’s inputs, and what it outputs to the driver, is crisp and delightfully refreshing by affordable new-car standards – intuitive steering, a tuneful exhaust note, crisp gearshifter action, nippy handling, and plenty of punch to have fun within the law.

I really like electric cars, and I’m excited by what the performance divisions of car companies will be able to do with batteries – in cars like the Alpine 5 electric hot hatch from Renault’s performance arm, or the eventual battery-powered replacement for Hyundai’s hot N cars.

But as much as manufacturers are willing to spend big on developing clever software – or engineering fun back into battery-electric cars – I don’t think you can really replicate the manual transmission or rambunctious exhaust of today (or yesteryear), let alone for the price of a baby hot hatch. Please, car brands, prove me wrong.

And so most first car stories end with a regretful ‘I wish I didn’t sell it’. But thanks to some early hindsight, touch wood, I may be able to make the right decision.