The Ford Ka is an ageing but still superb little thing. The mad looks have grown on everyone now, and a great little chassis makes this a gem of a city car. But a replacement is imminent.
Somehow the Ka is cool. Small is very definitely cool these days, and despite its obvious age the Ka can still cut it visually and dynamically amongst the current crop of city cars.
The Ka's trump card is handling, with its wide stance, wheel in every corner and lightning quick steering, it's a blast around town. The stiffer, more focused SportKa is all this and more besides.
Not the biggest car inside, as you might expect, but superior design of late makes better use of little spaces. The Ka has no five-door option, but you can still get two in the back better than you can in a modern Mini.
- Top Gear Website
http://www.topgear.com/uk/ford/ka
Except that that was the old Ka. The new one as reviewed by the Dec issue of Top Gear UK magazine is well... disappointing.
The old Ka (ie mine) sat atop Ford's B platform which also provided the basis for Fiestas 3, 4 and 5 (Fiesta 6 got the B3 platform) as well as the spritely coupe, the Ford Puma. All of these cars were known for their exceptional handling.
The new Ka in comparison does not share its platform with the Fiesta 7. Instead, it was developed off of the Fiat 500, which although won European Car of the Year for 2008, was reviewed by James "Captain Slow" May, as being gummy and unresponsive.
Contained within the previous paragraph lies the reason for the Ka's existance and also as to as to why the Ford Ka II should be so disappointing. The Ka I was possibly one of the least expensive cars to develop. The platform it sat on was already 7 years old, the engine at that stage was an archaic 37 years old and to top it all off, the whole point of the funly styling was an experiment in using as little metal as possible - BUT - the Ka II which came off the 500, was an exercise in cynicism. The Ka is essentially a Fiat 500, hit with the Kinetic styling styling stick, yet it also retains the gummy and unresponsive underpinnings, which is quite a contrast to the previous model.
Whereas the Ka I will probably go down as a classic, the Ka II almost certainly will not. The Ka II is to the Ka I what the Fiesta 6 was to the Fiesta 5. It makes me wonder what could have been acheived had they used the B3 platform. Would we have seen a Mazda 1? Perhaps a new Puma? Who knows?
What we do know about the New Ka is that the engines are rubbish. The biggest engine choice currently on sale only throws out 74kW. Admittedly Fiat are chasing frugality at the petrol pump, but this also equates to a wheezy car down the motorway; which the Ka I was criticised for.
Perhaps somewhat fortunately, Ka II isn't going to be as woeful as what Ford dished up to us here in Australia as the Ford Festiva. Here was a car so terrible, that Mazda didn't even sell it under their own badge, in Europe it became the Kia Pride and inadvertantly when Mazda pulled the overly cute 121 bubble car from their hat, led to the development of Ka I in the first place.
There is another twist in this tale. Ironically the Ka I which was reasonably successful, could move production to... the USA. See below.
Though we knew the European Transit Connect, Focus, and Fiesta are scheduled to arrive in the U.S. in the next few years, Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally hinted the new 2009 Ka may find a home in America as well.
Speaking this morning on a Detroit radio show, Mulally indicated the company is pondering adding the Ka to its North American lineup. He further suggested that "a lot of people" share the belief that Ford should bring the car to the U.S. market.
If it were to arrive in America, the Ka would become Ford's smallest offering, sizing up beneath the subcompact Fiesta. Introduced at the 2008 London motor show, the Ka is built in Poland along with the Fiat 500, with which it shares a platform.
http://blogs.automobilemag.com/6293575/car-news/mulally-says-ford-ka-may-come-to-us/index.html
Herein in lies another twist in this tale. Fiat currently do not sell cars in either the USA or Canada, so if Ford bring the Ka II to the US, they may very well beat Fiat at their own game provided they can do it by 2012 which is the expected date of return for both Fiat and Alfa Romeo.
As for us here in Australia, well we don't get a choice. Ford Australia's official line is as follows: "...at this point in time, there are no plans to reintroduce Ka in Australia." Personally I find that well... disappointing.
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