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The Big Impression - It might not carry the gift of the gab, but actions speak louder than words, as Nick Blight's mountain-munching Fiesta would eat Alistair McGowen on Ben Nevis for breakfast.
Words Bryn Musselwhite
Photos Gerard Hughes
We met a bloke the knew a lot about wine, and we mean a lot. But when he discovered that we were into motors, classic and otherwise, he just couldn't understand our passion. He questioned our dedication and dared to utter the words, 'it's only a car'. Thing is he never really got his head around our interest. Wine might be a trendy thing to know about, but it doesn't interest us, you can't do a ton down the bypass on wine and ultimately you piss it away.
It made us sit up and take notice when looking at Nick Blight's Mk1 Fiesta hillclimber though, as we'll wager a good number of you aren't fans of front-wheel-drive, but that's fine. Just so long as you know what you're missing. Hot hatches have had a bad press of late and classic Fords like the Mklll Escort and Mk1 Fiesta are slap bang in the middle of the debate - are they or aren't they any good? So for fear of turning out like wine boy, we reckon you really should pay attention to Nick's efforts, because in the metal, the detail and the dedication, this Fester has become a symbol of serious impression. So how did you get the knowledge to turn out something this right then Nick?
"I've grown up with it big time, Dad was rallying and rallycross mad. He and my uncle run the Ford dealership in Bideford and they've had an RS2000, a Mini, and a Chevette 2.3," says Nick. He spends his day in the dealership on the spanners and it's in the back garage here that the Fiesta has been built. After becoming a South West champion on a trials bike, in his own words Nick 'found beer and women'. Luckily they were in the same place at the same time, so he didn't have to look far. It was another vice that snapped him back to all things mechanical though, as Nick explains, "I started co-driving for my mate Scott in a Mk1 Escort with a 2-litre Vauxhall motor. He works in the other Ford dealership in Barnstaple, I got to know him and I before I knew it, he was like, 'you're light, you'll do'."
Being strapped into a co-driver's seat has never been my idea of fun. Maybe for a quick thrill ride here and there, but dictating the speed and approach of a rally car when you're not actually in control is another matter. Perhaps that's why Nick's gone.....
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