Dion gathered his Ford Fiesta ST with Saturday jobs and holiday work

As if the Fiesta ST is being pampered through and through, it is right in front of the parental home under a cover. “So that it is clean when we start shooting,” admits Dion Treffers, the proud owner of the eight-year-old Ford. It will be spic and span when the cloth comes off. Only some stone chips on the vulnerable front and a single scrape on two rim edges betray its age. “You wouldn’t say that he has already walked 110,000 kilometers, would you”, smiles the not so much older Dion.

Why the Ford Fiesta ST?

Why not a Volkswagen Polo GTI? Or a Seat Ibiza Cupra? Obvious alternatives to the Fiesta ST, also thinks the only 19-year-old Dion. “They were indeed shortlisted and I considered them both. But only the first generation fitted with the infamous 1.4 TSI engine fitted within my budget and I didn’t dare to do that. So I crossed out both the Polo and the related Ibiza, leaving the Fiesta ST. And oh, it was already at the top.”

The apprentice mechanic did not rush things during the purchasing process, which lasted exactly one month. For example, the preferred car had to be white or blue and equipped with climate control and cruise control. The last item in particular makes many potential candidates drop out. “We have outsourced the search to my employer Willems Automobielen, where I am still a jack of all trades. I clean the cars there, pick them up and bring them and I am allowed to carry out minor repairs under supervision. So it was obvious that they would find the best Fiesta.”

And let them have rolled into fellow company Pitstop just around the corner. Fresh from Luxembourg, from the first owner. All relevant papers and books are present including a fully stamped service booklet. But without cruise control. “So that was not going to be him,” says Dion. “Given my requirement that it should be exactly that.”

Original cruise control has been installed.

Still, Willems and Pitstop are not put off, because they know what they have in their hands. A beautiful specimen. They figure out that the entire cruise control system only takes a few hours and hundreds of dollars to install. “We agreed with that, but only if it was completely original. No retrofitted stuff and a silly stem on the steering column. No, original Ford with the buttons on the steering wheel.” No shortage of wishes.

How do you buy such an expensive car as a 19-year-old?

Still, the question remains how a 19-year-old manages to buy such an expensive car. Dion’s mother, who is seated at the central table in the Treffers house, explains: “The two of us are car enthusiasts in our family. My husband and Dion’s brother have little use for it. So I stimulate his car passion. For example, a moped soon arrived to cover the journey between home and school in Harderwijk faster than by bus.” Dion adds: “Before I was eighteen I got my driver’s license and once I was that age I bought a Peugeot 107.”

He did all this from the money he gathered with four years of Saturday work at Willems, two years of holiday work at a tree nursery and a year in an office chair factory.

The 180 hp 1.6 four-cylinder turbo.

The love for everything that rolls is there at an early age, thanks in part to his grandfather who delivers all kinds of stuff throughout Europe on the Volvo truck. For example at the Ferrari factory in Maranello where grandpa comes to deliver carbon fiber plates. “That visit further fueled my passion,” recalls Dion. And also his next target. “I just got my Excavator Excavator Diploma in Earthmoving, but now I want to get my Code 95 truck driver’s license. And then the motorcycle license, together with my mother because we want to go on tour together.” In addition to car wishes, there is also no shortage of ambitions. For the time being, however, Dion remains loyal to Willems.

Parents drive the Fiesta ST on weekends

So that’s how the plan came to purchase a hot hatchback. Mother Treffers had been driving a Peugeot 108 for years and Dion chugged in his 107. But the blood is thicker than water. Even stronger with Mother, who encourages Dion. They hatch a plan to buy a GTI-like. It will not only be there for Dion, but on weekdays father and mother can also drive it, because employer Willems is within cycling distance. But during the weekends the Fiesta is reserved for Dion. A shared Blits Possession, we have not seen that before in this series. Mother Treffers does set conditions for the entire promotion. For example, it strictly prohibits alcohol and everything related to it in traffic. Stimulants are prohibited. If this commandment, in fact, this requirement is broken, then the exercise is over and the car is chained.

Traded in two Peugeots

So when they’ve narrowed the shortlist down to one – the Ford Fiesta ST – Willems gets the search. There they trade in both Peugeots. In Dion’s eyes, the whole process is taking too long. “Once we decided on our battle plan, it couldn’t happen fast enough for me. I don’t do anticipation. It was therefore disappointing that so many potential Fiestas were dropped because of that cruise control. But Willems wanted to help us with a Fiesta ST, so they also called when a black one was on the way. However, we held our ground. Then it just takes a little longer.”

Blue is dream color

“And then I got a call from Willems. If I wanted to dust off ‘that blue one’ in the showroom. They had put the car in the showroom to surprise me,” says Dion. “I couldn’t believe my luck. Behind the showroom doors, the colleagues were sniggering. Perhaps our patience was our luck. That it had to be this Luxembourg car. In our dream color Spirit Blue.”

Of course, the lack of cruise control tempered Dion’s enthusiasm, but when it turned out that retrofitting is easy, that problem was gone. In addition, this car has the Sony Sound System and a reversing camera. “The special thing is the traditional Ford color that makes it less noticeable, despite the logos, the diffuser, the wheels and the roof spoiler,” says Dion. “Only the enthusiast sees what it is.”

They have only had the Fiesta for a short time, but Dion is sure it will never leave. Mother Treffers keeps the app in which her son makes this claim. As evidence. After all, you never know.