The Mk1 Ford Ka – Britain’s unsung hero 

When it comes to cars with the least street cred, the Mk1 Ford Ka sits as a worthy competitor for the title, jockeying with the other scraps of the car world. But should it? It seems over the past 26 years the world has forgotten how much of a splash the Ford Ka made, and what it meant for thousands of brits throughout the years as genuinely cheap and cheerful transportation. I think the Ka should be dragged out of the depths of obscurity and should be treated as the future classic it deserves to be.

In the early 90s, Ford was a popular brand in Europe. However, cracks were starting to show in Ford’s strong sales model. Ford was still known for making respectable and dependable cars; however, they lacked character and were generally not the brand you would go to for a fun car. Combine this with the ever more economical Japanese offerings and it wouldn’t be hard to imagine Ford struggling in the small car segment in a few years, despite the success of the fiesta. Ford had seen what Renault did with the Twingo, creating a styling sensation that caused a rave at car shows and dealerships alike. Ford wanted into the market and now with the pillar of chic styling, the 2CV, out of the picture, ford saw an opening for a stylish hatchback that could smash sales charts.

However, that job would be easier said than done. Small car sales margins would mean that the Ka had to be cheap to develop and that the styling had to be a hit from day one, unlike the Sierra ford launched 15 years prior, which took 3 years and a BTCC homologation special to sit well with consumers. It also had to have the drive to match, and be safe, and be well equipped. All of this for less money than the base Fiesta would make the Ford Ka one hell of a project for Ford to take on.

The styling was Ford’s main pitch for the Ka project, to have something striking enough to replicate the success of many a microcar before it, that could also set the trend for Ford’s next generation of cars. Ford had quite a few attempts at the design for the Ka before settling on a new edge design with many different shapes, using both rounded edges and sharp corners to have a design both friendly and sharp looking, loosely similar to the design style of the GT90 concept albeit a lot less angular.

The design debuted in 1996 with an open-top concept from Ghia design called the Saetta (Italian for a flash of lightning), using carbon fibre composites to make up some of the bodywork. The production Ka would (for obvious reasons) not receive this, but rather be designed to be durable, using massive one-piece bumpers front and rear that extended over the wheel arches, which made it less prone to small dents and made it cheap to repair, especially since the car initially had unpainted bumpers. The final design was drawn up by Chris Svensson, who went on to later help design the 2010 Ford Focus and the 2017 Ford GT.

The chassis was based on the MK3 Fiesta, however, it was tweaked and tuned to make an interesting drive, with Sir Richard Parry-Jones at the helm. Sir Richard Parry-Jones is the reason modern Fords drive so well in normal conditions, with revolutionary ideas like the 50-metre test. Rather than spending laps and laps round a racetrack to dial the car in at the limit, 50 metres at road speeds were more than enough to figure out the subtleties of a car, and with the help of Sir Jackie Stewart, that proved true.

The Ka was a great drive, with dynamics that would satisfying to drive at normal speeds and would feel revolutionary on a test drive. Ford also poured cash into safety, with most of the front end being a crumple zone and both driver and passenger airbags the Ka punched well above its weight in terms of safety, performing a lot better than a lot larger cars. All of this work into the Ka was done to make sure that from when buyers first laid eyes on it, to going to pick up the keys, the Ka would perform.

The Only issue with the Ka was the engine, using an Endura-E 1300cc engine, which could be traced back to the 1959 Kent engine used in the Anglia. Even with the Ka’s low weight the 60hp engine was slightly underpowered and wasn’t refined at higher revs. Even this didn’t stop the Ka though. When the Ka burst onto the scene it was a hit, and in its first full year sold over 200,000 units, and then did it again for the second.

The looks polarized many but those that loved them were pleasantly surprised by Ford’s attention to other factors, and so they sold in bucket loads. The Ka was so popular Ford experimented with many body styles based on the Ka, including an estate, a performance “Ka-Pow!” With the Ford Puma 1.7 engine. The Ka followed the Twingo with simple trim levels and bright colours on offer, letting people personalize their Ka. The Ka’s styling left a small trail wherever it went, early purchasers saying they got more attention in the Ka than in cars many times the price, and since everyone could afford the Ka, it wasn’t long before everyone got one.

In 2002 Ford replaced the medieval Endura-E engine with a more modern engine based on the sigma engine, although it was a cheaper 8v version originally developed for the Brazilian market, which gave the Ka a much-needed bump in torque, however, the engine still wasn’t very refined at higher revs.

In the period when Ford was experimenting with different Ka variants, one particular one was made by the Ghia design house. It was an open-top roadster, no bigger than an MX-5 with sharp new edge styling, even more so than the Ka when it first came out. The sweet little “StreetKa” was a hit with the public at the 2000 Turin motor show and so Ford started work to make it into a production car. They gave the design to Pininfarina, who mostly kept the outside the same as the concept, however, used the existing Ka interior to save costs. The StreetKa was launched in 2003 and was available with a basic and luxury trim, the basic being no better than a base Ka. The luxury on the other hand was a high-spec car with leather heated seats and heated door mirrors. The Streetka used a bigger 1.6l Duratec variant which gave it 95bhp, a substantial number in such a light car. The StreetKa’s were assembled by Pininfarina and thus had better build quality than the normal Ka.

If you wanted the StreetKa styling with the 3-door practicality, Ford had you covered too, as Ford produced the SportKa. The SportKa used the same engine as the StreetKa giving it just enough power to live up to its name.

In 2006 Ford saw the writing on the wall for the first-generation Ka, which although had been a national hit in Britain with continuing strong sales was severely outdated, and so flooded the market with special editions, including celebrating 10 years of production. In 2008 a Finale special edition was produced with high spec features and exclusive decals. After nearly 12 years over 400,000 were sold in Britain alone.

In 2008 Ford released an Mk2 Ka to Europe, which was well received and sold well in its first year, however it was quickly overshadowed by its sister car, the Fiat 500. After the Mk3 Ka (dubbed Ka+) flopped in the Ka’s home market the model was discontinued in Europe, both successors failing to make a statement as the original had.

Post-2008 the Mk1 Ka was quickly known for being cheap reliable transport, both engines being fairly reliable without timebomb issues. The Mk1 Ka became a popular first car for young drivers because of its low running costs and ease to drive. The Ka was also one of the cars bought by those looking to beat the bus, being cheap to run and cheap to replace. The 2009 scrappage scheme took many early examples off the road; however, the vast majority were consigned to the scrap heap due to the Achilles’ heel of 20th century Fords, rust. The Ka was known for rusting and by the end of the 2010s, most were either too rotten or too beaten to keep going.

Only 63 Mk1 Ka’s are available for sale on Autotrader, most for sale under £1000. Early examples are starting to be appreciated as future classics as well as the Sport and Street Ka’s, however still sit well under £2000, still mostly being used as wheels for brits who just need transportation. The most likely truth is that the Mk1 Ka will die out in the way it hit the roads, as the Classy Classless car, and become an obscure spot like that of the Nissan Sunny or Vauxhall Nova.

But it shouldn’t, the Mk1 Ka was a damn good car and should be preserved for generations to come. Few cars help rebuild a company from the possibility of financial death by boredom, few cars offer such cheap and plentiful miles for the money, few cars pioneered safety in small cars and few cars were able to stay on the market with strong sales for 12 years. The Ka is a special car, and for that, the few that remain deserve special treatment.