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If you're in the market for a cool used hot hatchback, buy one before everyone wants one.

Back in 1972, Ford introduced their first ever "world car." With automotive designer Tom Tjaarda, of Saab 900 and DeTomaso Pantera fame, in charge of the design, the original Fiesta debuted in 1972 to great fanfare. The first run of the Fiesta cemented its reputation as a fantastic small car with decent fuel economy and great pricing. Unfortunately, it never did all that well in North America, leading Ford to pull the plug on it for the second generation in 1983.

Several decades later, the Fiesta returned to North America, as part of Ford's "One Ford" globalization strategy. In the early 2010s, demand for hot hatchbacks was slowly on the rise on the continent. Ford saw this as a perfect opportunity, since they already offered two hot hatchbacks over in Europe. A year after the debut of the revived Fiesta ST in Europe, Ford brought it over to North America for the 2014 model year.

The Ford Fiesta ST is a subcompact hot hatchback that went on sale in Europe for the 2013 model year. A year later, Ford brought it over to North America for the 2014 model year. The biggest differentiator between the two cars is the fact that the North American models had rear doors, whereas Ford Europe only offered a three-door model.

The other external differences are Fiesta ST business as usual. A more aggressive front bumper with bigger air intakes, a wider overall stance, unique alloy wheel designs, a rear spoiler and twin exhaust pipes. The ST is also the first Fiesta to use four-wheel disc brakes, as preceding models use drums on the rear. In North America, the Fiesta ST really had no competition, aside from the Mini Cooper S and Fiat 500 Abarth.

Powering the Fiesta ST is a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine with 197 hp and 202 lb-ft of torque. Although foreign markets got special editions with more power, this is the only way to have the Fiesta ST in North America. It's FWD, with a six-speed manual transmission. No automatics here. 0-60 takes 6.8 seconds, with a top speed of 139 mph. Those might not sound like hugely impressive numbers, but they don't tell the whole story.

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The Fiesta ST's outright stats pale into insignificance when you're behind the wheel. This is one of the most cars for the money, and it set the hot hatchback world on fire in all markets where Ford offered it. It's a huge shame that Ford no longer offers it in North America, because this really is a hugely fun car for the money, even putting some far more expensive cars to shame.

The interior of the Fiesta ST is pretty similar to the standard car, aside from a couple noteworthy changes. Red instrument needles, an ST badge on the steering wheel, as well as swanky (optional) Recaro seats. Ford also threw basically every option at the Fiesta ST; automatic climate control, MyFordTouch, cruise control, a Sony sound system, heated seats, and a few other goodies.

In terms of reliability, the Fiesta ST's powertrain is pretty robust. Owners advise looking for unmodified or lightly modified examples, and the only real potential headache are the software bugs in the infotainment system. Other than that, the Fiesta ST is a pretty reliable hot hatchback. While it technically seats five passengers, it's ideally suited to four. The cargo area, meanwhile, boasts a modest 10.1 cubic feet of cargo space.

The Fiesta ST is one of the cheapest ways to have fun behind the wheel right now. As per Classic.com, price run the gamut from $15,000 to $20,000, which will sort you out with a tidy, unmodified example with less than 100,000 miles, and maybe even less than that.

With its fantastic driving experience, relatively subtle looks, decent equipment levels and a pretty robust powertrain and drivetrain, the Ford Fiesta ST is a complete no-brainer when it comes to fun used cars. If you're in the market for a cool used hot hatchback, buy one before everyone wants one.

Marko has been part of the HotCars team since July 2020. He started out writing for various sites on a variety of topics. He prefers weird, unusual cars to luxobarges and sports cars.