The Mk2 Fiesta was produced from 1983 onwards, a face-lifted Mk1, sharing the same basic shape just a bit more rounded off. The Mk2 was given wrap around indicators, new headlights and new rear light clusters incorporating reversing light and changes in the law ment that the Mk2 had to be fitted with a fog light as standard.

The Mk2 had new bumpers, metal with plastic wrap around ends for the lower spec, and all plastic bumpers with over riders and inserts for the Ghia and XR2. Other alterations included larger mirrors, slightly lowered front end and there was a new design boot lid which carried the swage line from the side of the car. Seat belts in the rear were still an option until the law change and they had to be fitted as standard.

The company had the opportunity to discard the Kent ohv and replace it with the modern CVH (Compound Valve Hemi-head) engine, the base models had the Valencia engine which had been reworked, the later of the engines were up to 25% more economical. In 1986 the Lean Burn 1.4 litre engine replaced the 1.3 litre and the Fiesta was available with an CTX automatic gear box.

There were a number of special edition models produced during the production of the Mk2, some of which were given the same name.

click here to see full list of special editions

The Mk2 XR2 appeared in June 1984 the design team (SVE) had been working on it since 1982. The new XR2 used the 1600 CVH engine from the xr3, but they were not allowed to used the 1600cc fuel injected engine because of fears that it may upstage the XR3i, which it did anyway. The old XR3 engine was tweaked and with a Webber carburettor produced and extra 12bhp over the previous model. Because of the extra weight the Mk2 was only 0.2 seconds faster to 60 than the MK1.

The car was equipped with tauter suspension and a 5 speed gear box and a full body kit as standard (front and rear spoilers, side skirts and wheel arch extension). The car came with 6 inch wide steel wheels with wheel trim, “pepperpot” alloy wheels were optional extra at 140.59.

Sales figures show that 10 per cent of all MK2 Fiestas sold were XR2’s

During the twelve year lift span of the Mk1 & Mk2, Ford had managed to sell over twelve million cars, 1.2 million of which were in the UK. This put on the pressure for the design test to come up with a MK3.