He flew a Cessna 172, which is an all-aluminum four-seat aircraft. It's not fabric-covered as the article describes, nor is it the size of a Ford Fiesta. And 172's cruise speed is ~120 kph, which is considerably faster than a Fiesta as well.
This is actually not quite true, unless you have a very long downhill slope or a Fiesta at the upper end of the bell curve - I was driving a Ford Fiesta in Germany at the very same time Rust was flying his plane to Red Square. Top speed, and I mean, pedal to the metal on a straight stretch of empty Autobahn, was maybe 180 kph. At 200 kph I'm pretty sure you'd get something like the opening sequence of Serenity. That last 20 kph is like the sound barrier on those things.
My Fiesta was special, though; I had broken a key off in the starter switch, so I had to remove the switch entirely (fortunately the theft-proof bolts had vibrated loose, probably at 180 kph). Crossing the Swiss border once while starting the engine with a screwdriver caused a very, very unamused reaction.
The outside rearview mirror had also rusted off. I was stopped by the Polizei once and he sternly informed me that I needed a rearview mirror - I told him I did: it was in the back seat. He laughed, but said that unless it was mounted on the car, the car didn't conform with its definition. (No, really, that's the way German law works.) I promised him I'd buy a new one the next day, and he waved me on. And I did, too.
All in all, the adventures of a redneck in Europe can be fun to recount.
He flew a Cessna 172, which is an all-aluminum four-seat aircraft. It's not fabric-covered as the article describes, nor is it the size of a Ford Fiesta. And 172's cruise speed is ~120 kph, which is considerably faster than a Fiesta as well.