Meet Mike
My 2011 Ford Fiesta Zetec, also known as Mike Wazowski… although unlike his famous namesake, this Mike has four wheels, questionable taste in modifications and absolutely no intention of behaving himself. When I first bought him, he was looking a little sorry for himself, with scrapes, dents, missing paint and enough little jobs to keep me busy for months. But underneath all that was a decent little Fiesta just waiting for a bit of TLC — and, inevitably, a few daft ideas.
Since then, Mike has had his fair share of repairs, neatening up and personalisation. The chrome has been given the boot, the lights have had a little makeover and I've slowly been turning him into something that's unmistakably my Fiesta. He's not the fastest Fiesta on the road, he's certainly not an ST and he's definitely not perfect… but that's half the fun. He's got character, attitude and just enough cheekiness to make people look twice. So, grab a cuppa and meet Mike — the little green Fiesta who somehow became part project car, part obsession and part member of the family!
1.25l Duratec engine, zetec mk7 pre face lift 2011 in squeeze green
Mike didn't wanna start
THE CLUTCH THAT CRIED ENOUGH
Another job for Lee...
It had been going pretty well with Mike.
Well... as well as anything can go when you own an ageing Fiesta.
Then one day, the clutch started slipping.
And not just a little bit.
I was losing power everywhere I went. Put my foot down and instead of Mike happily getting on with the job, the revs would rise and the car would basically say:
“Yeah... I'm not doing that.”
It was time for another chat with Lee.
By now, I already knew the routine.
Find out what's wrong.
Order the parts.
Give Lee a shout.
Let Lee work his magic.
So I ordered what I thought were the right parts and Mike went into Lee's garage for a couple of days. Lee already had plenty of work on, so the plan was to get Mike done when he could.
Originally, we thought it would be a fairly straightforward job.
Except...
I'd ordered the wrong parts.
Of course I had.
Because apparently buying the correct parts for your own car is harder than it sounds.
That meant Lee had to order the correct clutch through the garage, adding a couple more days to the repair.
Which left me with one small problem...
I needed a car.
ENTER THE BEAST
So off I went to Enterprise.
I arrived about five minutes before they closed, expecting to be there ages while they sorted everything out.
Nope.
Within a few minutes I was handed the keys and sent on my way.
I'd actually asked if I could have a Ford Kuga, because that's been on my list of cars I'd like to try.
But apparently the car gods had other ideas.
Instead, I was handed the keys to a 24-plate Nissan Qashqai.
And not just any Qashqai...
This thing was BIG.
It was completely black.
It looked mean.
It looked serious.
My partner took one look at it and immediately named it:
“The Beast.”
And to be fair...
She wasn't wrong.
I jumped in, started it up and discovered the air conditioning.
It was on low...
But sounded like a JUMBO JET taking off.
And it was absolutely freezing.
Normally I'd probably complain about that.
But we'd just had some seriously hot weather.
So sitting in a huge black Qashqai with the air con blasting Arctic air into my face?
Perfect.
I actually really enjoyed driving it.
It was comfortable, big, surprisingly nice to drive and definitely gave me a taste of what something newer and larger was like.
But...
I'd still got my eye on that Kuga.
Next time, maybe.
MIKE, I MISSED YOU!
Eventually, Lee had the correct parts and the clutch was fitted.
Time to go and get Mike back.
And honestly...
I'd missed him.
It sounds ridiculous when you're talking about a little green Fiesta, but after driving the Beast around for a few days, getting back into Mike felt strangely familiar.
He was smaller.
He wasn't nearly as fancy.
He certainly didn't have the Qashqai's enormous air conditioning system.
But he was Mike.
And that counted for a lot.
There was just one thing left to do.
Take it easy.
The new clutch needed to be bedded in, so for the next 500 miles I had to be sensible and treat Mike gently.
No showing off.
No thrashing it.
No pretending I was driving an ST.
Just nice, steady driving while the new clutch settled in.
And once again...
Lee had saved the day.
Mike was back on the road.
And I was back where I belonged.
Behind the wheel of my little green Fiesta.
ANOTHER ONE FOR THE LEE FILES
By this point, Lee wasn't just becoming the mechanic I called when something went wrong.
He was becoming part of the Mike story.
Starter motor? Lee. Clutch? Lee.
Something else inevitably decides to give up?
I'm pretty sure we already know who's getting the phone call...
“Alright Lee... don't panic, but Mike's done something again.” 😂
And somehow, every time, he gets us back on the road.