ECONOBOX CAFÉ: There's parts from how many cars???!

Rolling on Toyota Corolla GT alloy wheels

The manager at my local AutoValue store calls our car "Frank" as in Frankenstein.... perhaps he's got good reason to! Let me explain: in the years we've owned a Festiva (we purchased our first one in 2001) we've done a lot of work on the car and since there is next to no aftermarket support for it we've had to improvise and source items to adapt and modify. The Festiva community, particularly the forum at www.fordfestiva.com and more recently the Ford Festiva.com Facebook group, has been a very creative one. Not only creative but willing to share those ideas and discoveries.

I've compiled a list of all parts that were originally on other cars that we've used to modify our own. Because the Festiva is Mazda engineered and Kia manufactured you'll see a lot of parts from those marques on the list. Without further ado, here's the list in no particular order:

88 Mazda 323GT (turbocharged engine, ECU)
Mazda 323 (rear view mirror, window winder trim, chrome inside door handles)
'94 Aspire (front and rear brakes, rear axle/beam, winter wheels)
'87 Toyota MR2 (seats)
late 80's Toyota Corolla GT (alloy rims)
German '87 Mazda 121DA (head and corner lights)
Australian '88 Mazda 121DA (grille)
UK market '90ish Kia Pride (tail lights)
Phillipines market '90's Kia Pride (instrument cluster)
late '70's VW Rabbit (hood strut)
early VW Cabrio (oil pressure gauge)
'80's Volvo (analog clock)
Mazda B2000 truck (front signal light lenses)
'80's Mazda 626 (intermittent wiper module)
Mazda Protege (cup holders)
early '90's Ford Escort wagon (rear wiper motor gear)
'80's Lincoln (rear speakers)
'90 Ford Escort GT (cam gear cover)
Mercury Tracer (dome light)
Ford Probe (aftermarket short shifter)
first generation Mazda MX-5/Miata (battery)
Honda Civic (battery tray)

So there you have it, parts from twenty two different cars! Some of the adapted parts are considered upgrades or enhancements in the Festiva community. Others, such as the Miata battery and Civic battery tray, were used to facilitate the engine swap.