Ford Aspire

The Ford Aspire was an interesting, if perhaps misguided, attempt by the folks at Ford to capitalize on the subcompact craze that gripped the rest of the world, especially Europe and Asia, in the 1990s.  The Aspire never made much of an inroad in North America, though, so the life of the model line was short-lived.

Designed by Mazda, the Aspire replaced the Festiva as Ford's entry-level minicompact offering.  The Ford Festiva had not managed to capture much market share in a climate dominated by big SUVs and ever-expanding sedans; the Aspire brought some solid engineering and a shapely, if basic, look to the table.

Still, in a market where bigger was better and power was all, this little car and its 4-cylinder, 63-horsepower engine just didn't catch drivers' imaginations. It's kind of a shame, too: where the Aspire really shone was in fuel efficiency, with an EPA estimated mileage per gallon of 29 city, 34 highway.  Perhaps the Aspire was just ahead of its time?