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EVEN WITH its shiny, candy-apple red paint, the 1988 Ford Festiva Lwore the face of rejection. Face? Nahhh. Actually, it looked more like ahigh-top tennis shoe that someone threw in a corner.

I felt sorry for the thing. I also needed a car for the column. Itook it.

I’d driven a Festiva before, a really spiffed-up, whistles and bells,media-special, LX demonstration model. I liked it all right but got thefeeling that the super-loaded LX wasn’t the “economy” subcompact mostmoms and pops have in mind for their young adults.

The Festiva L is something else. It’s a baseline, front-wheel-drive,frill-free subcompact. There’s nothing about it that’s fancy or showy,which might explain why the test model was left forlorn in the bowels ofa Ford Motor Co. garage.

I said “Hello” to the car. Don’t laugh. If high-minded folks like theReagans can talk to stars, I can talk to cars. Cars, at least, havetheir wheels on the ground.

Anyway, I could’ve sworn that the Festiva L smiled at my greeting. Itseemed to perk up and say, “Hey, man, get me outta here!” I did andwasn’t the least bit sorry. I hated to bring the little car back.

Complaints: The “blue-light-special” grade carpeting peeled from thefront-cabin floor. Lousy adhesives. The problem was taken care of withgood adhesives.

Also, and here we go, again, the test model had only one sideviewmirror — driver’s side. This is silly, truly silly. The NationalHighway Traffic Safety Administration oughtta mandate that all new carssold in the United States — economy, luxury, whatever — beequipped with two outside mirrors. The right-side mirror should not betreated as an option. It’s a vital piece of safety equipment. It’s abouttime that auto makers and federal regulators saw it that way.

Praise: Despite the goofed-up carpeting, the Festiva L is well-made.It’s a solid little rascal, lightweight at 1,713 pounds, but not theleast bit tinny. The cloth and vinyl interior, while not terriblyattractive, is pleasant and serviceable. Indeed, this car gets extracredit for general common sense: You can put four, full-size adults inthe cabin with lots of legroom and headroom to spare. Driver andpassengers can bring along 80 pounds of luggage. Not bad for a littleauto.

Note: Subcompacts tend to offer less safety in crashes than largercars. Collision-damage to subcompacts, relatively speaking, often ismore expensive to repair.

Ride, acceleration, handling and braking: Excellent ride,acceleration and braking. But handling suffers a bit on windy highways,largely because of the car’s overall height — 55.3 inches, rathertall for a subcompact.

The Festiva L is equipped with a 1.3-liter, inline, four-cylinderengine rated 58 hp at 5,000 rpm. Yeah, yeah, I know. Some motorcycleengines work harder. But the Festiva L, with its midget engine andfour-speed manual gearbox, is no slouch on the highway.

Sound system: AM/FM radio with two speakers. You can listen to thenews.

Mileage: Easily 36 to the gallon (10-gallon tank, estimated 350-milerange on usable volume), running with mixed loads (one to fouroccupants), combined city-highway.

Price: $5,987, including $267 for optional rear-window defogger and a$230 destination charge. Dealer’s invoice price is $5,332.71.

Purse-strings note: The dealer’s profit margin on this one is aboutas small as the car. Expect resistance to offers that fall below themanufacturer’s suggested retail price. No matter. The Festiva L is anexcellent subcompact, terrific commuter and good value for the money.