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After 13 years of dragging sins and rust, the tent on wheels called Ford Ka is finally replaced by Ford Ka II. Is it worthy tho of carrying it’s mighty torch?

The first Ford Ka was supposed to be a city car but ended up either a purse on wheels (or rather called a tent on wheels) or a relatively sporty car that followed in the footsteps of the Puma.

So, naturally and logically, the Americans thought that if a product sells well, it should be changed and so we got the Ford Ka II. Which isn’t really a Ford Ka II, but rather an American Fiat. Yep, because the Americans thought they needed a city car and called the Italians, and the Italians offered them the Fiat Panda and Fiat 500 platform and that’s how we got the Ford Ka II.

Of course, the Americans didn’t actually sell a rebadged Panda, so they worked on the suspension on the Ford Ka, with slightly stiffer springs and stronger anti-roll bars and so the Ford Ka II has a sportier suspension than the Fiat 500. Then the Italians took the suspension from the Ford Ka and modified it for their own Fiat 500 Abarth, essentially having a modified double suspension.

We have two engines, both of Fiat origin, and we only have a 5-speed manual gearbox. We have electric power steering instead, to say nothing of substantial modifications. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that the Ford Ka II was a low-effort car in design, being more the kind of car thought up, drawn, and designed in a coffee break. “We need a small city car!” “Well, get a three-door Fiesta and make it smaller.” “Right, what about the rest?” “Call Fiat and buy the Fiat 500 license, but don’t take the whole thing, keep it on the cheap”.

And there you have a car that’s essentially a smaller Fiesta with reliable engines and that’s it. A car that obviously people didn’t fall over themselves to buy because the Fiesta is such a good car. And the Americans refused to learn their lesson because after Ka they brought the horrible EcoSport to Europe, which was also a failure because the Fiesta is such a good car. Yes, there’s the Ford Ka III, but it’s not for sale in Europe because guess what – you already have the Fiesta. Sometimes you have to admire and respect the insistence of car manufacturers to sell and develop cars that nobody buys, like the Ford Ka II, Suzuki Alto, or Fiat Panda.

Ford Ka II Engines

Petrol

1.2 FiREof 69 horsepower – No, it’s not the 1.25 engine in the Fiesta but the legendary 1.2 MPI FiRE from Fiat. A fabulous engine in terms of reliability, it’s just limited to city performance but that’s the whole point of the Ford Ka II, to be a cheap and reliable city car.

Diesel

1.3 Multijet of 75 horsepower – This is the only Ford that has this engine, namely Fiat’s 1.3 Multijet. A village bike of the automotive world, except on the Ford Ka II it makes about as much sense as Biden’s speeches. Because the Ford Ka II is a city car, and the 1.3 Multijet is not a city engine. Otherwise, you’re going to have issues with the injectors, particle filter, flywheel, and everything under the sun.

Ford Ka II Reliability Issues

• No standard air conditioning or power windows. But that was also Ford’s plan, to put out an even cheaper car than the Ford Fiesta, a car that was already cheap. Why? Because Ford.


• The windows fog up instantly as if Sofia Boutella got in the car and is your passenger. And the only apparent solution is to get a dehumidifier. 

Ford Ka II Verdict

This car operates on the principle of “It doesn’t break down because there’s nothing to break down to begin with”. I’m still sticking to the side of a city car, cheaper than the Ford Fiesta. Why? Maybe it would have worked if they made it a smaller FIesta for real and brought in some ST package or something sportier or crazier, but that’s just a Fiat 500 that says Ford on it that the Ford marketing people haven’t heard of. But at least you’ve heard. It’s still something.

What engines do you recommend? For petrol anyway you only have the 69hp 1.2 MPI but it’s also the only engine that was bought, because the 75hp 1.3 diesel is good on its own, but not on the Ka.