The Ford Ka - From Flambouyance, To Undertstatement

The Ford Ka has always seemed to split opinion neatly down the middle ever since it first appeared in 1996. The Ka represented a car for an emerging new breed of driver; the common-sighted 'NeverLeavesius TownAndCitius'. In other words, this car was specifically designed for those short trips to the supermarket, around the town, or round to a friend's house. This displeased the old school drivers, who seemed to believe that a car is only worth its salt if it has a growling V8 and spits out more carbon dioxide than the entire Victorian Age. The proof, however, was in the pudding and the Ford Ka flew out of the forecourts and became something of a phenomenon.

The Ford Ka had two main plus point above its rivals. The first was the quirky and stylish looks. At the time the Ka's design was seen as some kind of horror from the future; it had done what no car had dared do before...it was round! Previous to the Ka, all manufacturers seemed to make all their cars resemble shoboxes as much as possible. The Ka introduced a new modern 'curvy' aesthetic, which is still used as a design blueprint for many of the manufacturers today. It could be said that the Ford Ka helped bring about the revival of the Fiat 500 before even fiat had thought of re-releasing it.

The second plus point was the price. When first released, the basic model Ka could be purchased for less than £7000, which for a new Ford vehicle seemed too good to be true. The Ka then became the most popular vehicle for new, young drivers and those of a female persuasion. It has remained this way for the next decade and has only begun to lose a little bit of ground to the Vauxhall Corsa and the aforementioned Fiat 500. After twelve years of the Ford Ka, the designers decided that they needed to make their baby Ford a tad snazzier and cutting edge; so they took the Ka back to the drawing board.

What came from this redesign was something of a muted firework. Sure the brand new Ka looked nice...but it didn't look..erm...well like a Ka to be honest. In line with the relaunch of the Fiesta, Ford had transformed the Ka into a 'Baby-Fiesta' for want of a better description. Gone was the Ka's unique styling and it lost almost all of its quirkiness in the change. Those who counted themselves as big fans of the Ford Ka looked on in slight disappointment.

I think I have come to an epiphany concerning why the Ka has been transformed into 'Fiesta-Lite'; too many car manufacturers are doing the cutesy-rounded-quirky-caricature of a Ka design. In my humble opinion, Ford got bored of being aped and decided to make something a little more grown up. The New Ka is definitely a more mature looking car than its forebear, even in the insipid Lime Green colour it has been hawked in on television adverts.

The New Ford Ka will be a guaranteed good seller, the blue oval on the front will see to that. What it won't achieve, however, is the level of notoriety and attention it initially received in 1996. Ford always seem to be a few steps ahead in fashion terms, so maybe (unbeknownst to me) 2009 is the year of the understatement. The New Ford Ka certainly suggests so.

About the Author:
Pete J Ridgard is a writer and a car enthusiast. He currently writes for the automotive industry. Here he discusses The New Ford Ka.