A Fiesta like this? Probably not. It’s unique. Just when you thought you’d seen every conceivable Fiesta mod along comes Graeme ‘Cubby’ Cuthbertson with his awesome creation. Two years in the making and more than a few changes of plan along the way.

This car is probably one of the most eagerly awaited Fiestas to have ever been built. It started back in 1999 as a super smooth 5 door 1.1 dropped to the floor on 15” RS2000 wheels and pretty soon it became the recipient of a 240bhp Series 1 Escort RS Turbo lump. After having the car featured Graeme decided to take it off the road and treat it to a few more mods. His plans at first were to drop it over 17”s with a set of Avos and fit the mk4/5 back end. More extreme mods included the fabrication of a one-off metal kit designed to fit the five door perfectly, and an Equiss Auxia rear spoiler from Peugeot Ecosse. These were soon followed by a centre exit exhaust and the Peugeot 306 headlights, which meant total refabrication of the front wings and bonnet.

18 months of work later the car was almost ready to be painted but rather than roll in into the booth and switch the compressor on, Cubby decided to start again. The car was perfect apart from two nagging doubts. The first was that the car was on a Q plate, which could affect resale value in future, and the second problem was a couple of extra doors. At first Cubby’s brother Alan suggested that the 5 door was what made the car unique, but after being shown a handful of well modded 3 door he soon changed his mind. A donor car was found, this being a white 1.1 on an N plate. The car had been smashed at the front end and changed hands for a very reasonable amount indeed. Of course the damage presented no problem thanks to Alan and Cubby’s expertise, and most of it was removed anyhow for the 306 / Mk5 front end.

Meticulously the parts were transferred across. Any fittings deemed to be substandard were binned and replaced with brand new items and the underside and arches were stripped of their underseal and painted. The kit was refitted, this time without the cutouts for the rear doors. The rear track was increased by 40mm to push the wheels out into the wider arches and the front was also widened, this time by 20mm. This is just one of the many unique touches and gives the car an almost 4x4 like appearance. Rather than fill the arches with the 17” Masitaly’s he already had, Cubby sought out a set of wheels that would set him apart from a sea of Kahn replicas. He settled on a set of Ford RS 7 spoke alloys in a chrome finish. At 7.5” wide they sit perfectly and are wrapped in 205/40 Falkens.

After a coat of Standox’s finest multi flip Daytona Paradise the engine and fuel system were fitted. The previous S1 engine went back in, only this time spotlessly clean and with a couple of extra tweaks, alloy goodies and the rather obvious Nitrous solenoids fed by the huge bottle behind the seats. Positioned behind this is the fuel cell. Custom built by ATL, it is filled by an alloy cap mounted at the base of the C pillar, with the original Mk3.5 flap cut out and welded smooth. The bumpers went back on, with the front now housing a 2wd Cosworth intercooler where the lower grill previously was.

Finished at last, the car rolled out of Cathburn’s workshop and promptly photographed in the stunning Scottish countryside for the exclusive fiestaturbo.com feature. It’s first appearance at the Crail Thrash attracted so much attention that for the majority of the day the car was totally obstructed by a crowd who’s jaws repeatedly dropped along the ground. The car will be at most of the shows this year and something tells me that the same thing will happen each time…