12 DISCONTINUED FORD CARS FROM THE 90S, RANKED WORST TO BEST

12.Ford Aspire (1993-1997)

The Aspire marked Ford’s second shot at cracking the subcompact hatchback market after the Festiva didn’t quite hit the mark. But truth be told, the Aspire wasn’t really a Ford at all—it was a rebadged Kia Avella, which itself was based on the aging Mazda 121 platform. While that mashup might not sound terrible by today’s standards, it’s important to remember that 1990s Kia was a very different beast compared to the polished brand we know in the 2020s. Assembled in South Korea, the Aspire came with a modest 1.3-liter engine making just 63 horsepower. A five-speed manual was standard fare, with a basic three-speed automatic as an option. Its biggest selling point? Dual airbags—a rarity at the time. Still, the Aspire and its twin weren’t exactly crash-test champions. On the bright side, it could get up to 42 mpg on the highway and proved to be fairly dependable.

Sure, it’s easy to poke fun at a car that sold for just $8,895 back in 1997. Fair enough. But let’s not forget that the larger, more capable Dodge Neon started at only $9,475—and it packed a far punchier 132-horsepower engine. Even Ford’s own Escort outperformed the Aspire in nearly every category, for just $1,600 more. To make matters worse, the Aspire didn’t share any real DNA with the rest of Ford’s lineup. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, European buyers were treated to the far superior Fiesta—a smartly designed supermini that truly reflected what Ford could do when it tried. The Fiesta was fun, solidly built, and genuinely practical. Maybe instead of ringing up Kia, Ford’s North American division should’ve dialed Europe for some advice.