Conceived as a lifestyle-oriented small city car, the Ford KA was first introduced in 1996 as a two-door model based on the then current Ford Fiesta MK IV with a completely new design language called New Edge. The car proved to be a huge success and a bestseller in its class in the UK for years, mostly due to its charming and practical design, high quality and competitive price.

The second generation KA debuted in 2009, and it was built as a joint venture of Fiat and Ford, so its closest relatives are the Fiat 500 and Fiat Panda. Finally, there’s the third generation KA developed by Ford Brazil. It returned to using the Fiesta platform and is named the KA+ in Europe.

Today, we are going to concentrate on the second generation KA. During its production run, it was one of the bestselling UK city cars, selling over 500,000 examples in Europe, continuing the tradition of its predecessor. With that in mind, the KA is among the best choices for used city cars in the UK, as numerous well preserved examples can be found on the second hand market. However, there are always some special benefits when buying a car from a used car dealership, and Motor Range offers selected examples of the Ford KA starting from £4,470.

Even though its underpinnings came from Italy, the second-gen Ford KA is undoubtedly a Ford. The Kinetic Design features are ever-present on its bodywork, but the car has kept the original allure of the previous generation too.

First of all, there’s the rounded up shape, and then there are the wheels on the very corners of its bodywork. These subtle cues were successfully fused with the Kinetic Design philosophy, creating a car with the looks that endured the test of time by still looking fresh and interesting. The interior of the KA is close to perfect when it comes to ergonomics and functionality, and it is very well made as well, but the best KA experience comes in higher trim levels which offer more stylish and vivid interior colors and patterns. Apart from aging well, the design of the KA was very practical considering the limitations a city car has to have. Many users have hailed its boot space, as well as headroom and legroom for all four occupants. When everything’s taken into account, the KA is a perfect city car for a family of four, and it can also be taken out on longer trips with ease since there’s enough boot space for some luggage.

Still charming, still practical

The 2nd generation KA came in Studio, Style, Zetec and Titanium trims, all offering some degree of customisation and progressive amount of standard equipment. As the base model, Studio offered USB connectivity, ABS, trip computer and a 12V power socket, while the Style upgraded the base equipment with air conditioning, manually adjustable driver’s seat and electric front windows. Zetec variants had fog lights, Quickclear windscreen, heated mirrors, 16” alloys, and the best-equipped Titanium came with leather seats, rear parking sensors, climate control and panoramic roof.

As a miniature car developed and built to buzz through the city streets, the Ford KA is equipped with small engines as well. These are 1.2 litre Duratec petrol engine and 1.3 litre Duratorq diesel, also known as FIRE and MultiJet. The petrol powerplant is good for 69 horsepower with 102Nm of torque, while the diesel one offers 75 hp and 145 Nm of torque.

Power in the city

Both engines provide lively performance paired up with 5-speed manuals only, with top speeds around 100 MPH and 0-60 times in a bit more than 13 seconds. Even though the numbers don’t seem impressive on paper, things are different in real life situations. Due to its light weight and transmission optimised for city driving, the KA has enough power to accelerate its way from traffic jams and other unpleasant situations in everyday city driving. With such small engines, the running costs are quite low, which is another big selling point of this little city charmer.

Overall reliability is also high judging from the owners’ experience, and while there might be some quirks and gremlins, you won’t have to worry about those if you are buying from Motor Range, where every car has already been taken care of prior to going on sale.

If you are on the lookout for a small, affordable city car with enough space for four and their things, low running costs and reliability, you should definitely consider the KA. Its charming design has transferred well to the second generation, and the venture between FIAT and Ford worked extremely well and in favour of both the companies and the buyers. Fiat-sourced engines proved to be extremely reliable, which is one of the strongest selling points of the KA, and the taxes are also cheap which helps a lot if you have a limited budget.

Is the Ford KA a car for you?

Speaking of budget, Motor Range offers the KA car from a little under £5,000 and we are talking about handpicked and inspected low-mileage examples. All in all, this is a very affordable price for a reliable and practical city car. If the Ford KA has got your attention with its unique charm, visit our Liverpool site and bring the whole family for a test ride in the car that you’ll be driving every day!