Hurry Up and Give This European a Green Card
Europeans are wonderfully adept at forming dangerous liaisons, advancing the vinic arts, wrecking perfectly marbled steaks, rearranging neighbors’ borders every generation or so--and building miniature automobiles.
Such as Ford’s Ka. Pronounced “car.” It’s a bitsy extraterrestrial that looks like it was abandoned outside Manchester by a mother ship. Painted red, this tin tyke could tour county fairs as the M & Mobile. References to its pickup mean the speed of walking away with a Ka under each arm.
Therein its delight.
For the Ka--as in Ra, Ba and ancient Egyptian for the soul of all things--may well be the sense and sensibility of what commuter and runabout motoring could become. It’s also a reduced-emissions vehicle with range, purchase and performance numbers that electric vehicles cry for.
Ka costs, by rough conversion from pounds to dollars, about $10,000. That includes basic drive-away equipment, while a few extra guineas buys big people options such as a passenger air bag, power steering, air-conditioning, CD sound system, central locking and power windows.
Ka is rated as a super subcompact, which means it is tinier all around than a Geo Metro, and almost 2 feet shorter than a Honda Civic. Ergo, it turns on a dime and can be parked on a quarter.
Prices are in the bargain basement because Ka (accept that all scatological wordplays on Ka-car have been uttered and written ad nauseam) comes in only one style (three-door hatchback), with a single transmission (five-speed manual) and standard interior (a soft, neutral meld of Yankee blue and Confederate gray with flecks of Georgia peach).
With only three cylinders squeezing out 60 horsepower, the Ka is a clean breather that would earn at least one thumb up from Ed Begley Jr. and the EV huggers. And fuel consumption--again by translation from Imperial to U.S. gallons--is about 42 mpg.
This European talent for making little motorcars is rooted in a century of necessity. For with cities lumbered by streets built for handcarts and Roman chariots, and in an economy where a liter of gasoline costs more than lunch, there’s no choice but to drive anchovy cans that can clatter from Madrid to Moscow on one tank of sans plomb.
So France gave the world the Citroen 2CV, the infamous two-cylinder, corrugated snail, sized around the dimensions of a farmer and his wife, a top hat and upright loaves of French bread. It was with us for almost 50 years and became the icon that ate the Model T.
From 1936 Germany, Adolf Hitler and Ferdinand Porsche came the Volkswagen, the perfect People’s Car. It was born before the 2CV, outlived it by several years and outsold it by many thousands. It has been redesigned, reborn and will be back in showrooms, and in the United States, by the end of the ‘90s, as, of course, the Beetle.
Never to be outdone by those damned continentals, Britain contributed the Mini, born as boxy as the crate it came in. This littlest of automotive rascals consumed petrol by the sip, was built in several forms from woody to pickup, and won the Monte Carlo Rally because nobody thought to tell it not to enter such adult events.
And while the majority of America continues to worship all that is heavy, thirsty and luxurious on large wheels, Europe’s tiny beat goes on. Fiat’s new Palio is shorter, narrower and lower than even the Toyota Tercel, but tops 100 mph. This month, it was announced that 1999 models of the 37-year-old Mini will be sold in the United States by BMW-Rover. This year, Mercedes will start selling its 60-horsepower A-class.
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Ford is noncommittal on the Ka coming to American shores.
But earlier this year, one was airlifted to Southern California and spent several weeks popping up unannounced in shopping malls and parking lots. Public commentary, said a Ford spokesman, was positive. And if there was no interest in selling Ka in the United States, he added, there would be no point in showing it to the United States. Got it?
Memories of yesteryear’s small cars, however, fall somewhere between the worst of times and the best of boot camp. Sure, Beetles and Deux Cheveaux were simple to operate, inexpensive to buy, and engines could be taken out and replaced like sewing machines. These little guys also made every road a rock bed, and performance was governed heavily by gradient and wind direction.
The Ka is generations improved.
It is styled for the next millennium with deeply rounded corners, bubble glass and the soft aerodynamics of an escape pod. Front and rear bumpers are flush, wraparound plastic that continue curving around the corners until they become wheel wells. The whole assumes the cutie look of a ladybug.
The “Star Trek” dashboard flows as twin whorls, the lower containing radio and heater controls, the upper housing just two white-faced instruments--speedometer and gas gauge--and a string of warning lights. Front seating is comfortable but cozy for the fully figured; rear seating is uncomfortable and impossible for all but the undersized and undernourished.
Finding the ignition switch was a treasure hunt. The mispositioned gas pedal could use severe sideways readjustment; we lost count of getaways that got nowhere because we were stomping dead space and the firewall.
But you’ll adore eight cubbies and pockets, particularly a small rotating dashboard drum that offers two storage trays.
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Handling is brisk bordering on lively under load, the characteristic of any narrow-track vehicle riding an 8-foot wheelbase. But the Ka cruises comfortably at 80 mph, doesn’t require much forethought or shifting to hold its own in uneven traffic, and is a surprisingly quiet, comfortable vehicle even on intermediate hauls in soggy weather.
As daily transportation, the Ka is a well engineered, stylish, thoroughly efficient smiley face on wheels.
As a concept, it could do more to ease urban suffering than free Grand Slam breakfasts and full employment.
If America could be weaned from the large and borderline brutal, here’s a mild-mannered car that fits two to a parking meter. On freeways, three Kas occupy the same daylight as two Buicks. It represents less of a drain on shrinking fossil fuels, with an exhaust ready for scrubbing to meet California’s ultra-low emissions standards.
It’s also a significant stopgap until an electric commuter car can duplicate much of what the Ka is already doing.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
1997 Ford Ka
The Good: Small, clean, inexpensive answer to urban traffic wars. Mini-car with compact-car ride and performance. More fun than roller-blading.
The Bad: Impossible pedal settings.
The Ugly: Anything this small can only be cute.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
1997 Ford Ka
Cost
* Base: $10,000, estimated. (Includes driver-side air bag, radio and five-speed manual.)
* As tested, $12,000, estimated. (Includes passenger air bag, power steering, central locking, rear headrests, air-conditioning, metallic paint and CD player.)
Engine
* 1.3-liter, three cylinders, developing 60 horsepower.
Type
* Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, three-door hatchback mini-subcompact.
Performance
* 0-60 mph, as tested: 12.3 seconds, with manual transmission.
* Top speed: 92 mph.
* Fuel consumption, average city and highway: 42 mpg.
Curb Weight
* 1,800 pounds.
