THE 40th birthday of one of the UK's most popular small cars will be celebrated in style as part of a new event taking place in Brighton this summer.

The Ford Summer Festival will be held at Brighton Racecourse on Saturday, July 16, and will start with a traditional London to Brighton run.

Many of the cars on the run will start their journey, just as they did at the beginning of their lives, at the Ford plant at Dagenham.

Heading up the convoy will be a special selection of 40 Ford Fiestas, from the very first to the very last, including some rare performance models.

The run will be backed by Ford itself, which will be entering a fleet of its own heritage Fiestas in the drive down to the South Coast.