RE: Ford SportKa | Spotted

[The1Driver]

I remember Ford making a couple of great adverts for this car.... *Runs off to find them on YouTube*


Edit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLIkjWFNAKI

Edited by The1Driver on Sunday 22 September 17:14

[WJNB]

Got lumbered with one as a courtesy vehicle having crashed my company car.
Utterly dreadful little thing & was intensely embarrassed to be seen behind the wheel.
I recall Clever Clogs Clarkson saying it looked like a 'dog taking a dump' - never a truer word spoken.
Classic collectable? - oh please.

[bloomen]

BigMon said:

I can't see these ever becoming a cult car due to that really.

And yet plenty of CVH dreck a few generations old now attracts ludicrous prices.

[R400TVR]

As soon as I read the title of the article, I remembered the adverts. Both were brilliant. Both were banned!

[MC Bodge]

legless said:

Poppiecock said:

legless said:

The only thing that would basically fit and was a current production engine was the Brazilian 1.6 RoCam SOHC unit.

Isn't that a CVH development?

It's basically a Sigma Zetec-SE, but with an 8v SOHC head on it.

I rented an EcoSport in Argentina in the '00s. It must have had this odd beast of an engine too. It was an SOHC and I remember it being a 1.6. It wasn' t terrible, but not great and, as a small ish n/a 8v, did feel a little asthmatic at 4000m

It makes sense why they didn't squeeze a DOHC engine into the Ka, although I had always assumed it was a 1.6 Zetec SE from a Focus/Fiesta.

Edited by MC Bodge on Sunday 22 September 21:11

[jase_llan]

MC Bodge said:

I rented an EcoSport in Argentina in the '00s. It must have had this odd beast of an engine too. It was an SOHC and I remember it being a 1.6. It wasn' t terrible, but not great and, as a small ish n/a 8v, did feel a little ashtmatic at 4000m

It makes sense why they didn't squeeze a DOHC engine into the Ka, although I had always assumed it was a 1.6 Zetec SE from a Focus/Fiesta.

Edited by MC Bodge on Sunday 22 September 20:50

You're not the only one, I was surprised to find out it wasn't a Zetec-SE as well!

[itcaptainslow]

Mike1990 said:

Randomly i was googling Micra 160SR’s last night, why oh why isn’t there warm-hatches like these anymore

I’ve got one as my daily and love it to bits. It’s perfect really-doesn’t stand out in a station car park, goes well for what it is, handles nicely and does 45mpg driven with reasonable care. It seems bombproof too and scrubs up nicely. Cheap to insure, too.

Don’t tell everyone how good they are!

[soad]

It’s on eBay also. Can’t see the need to pay that much.

[Krikkit]

legless said:

lee_erm said:

Shame these never came with the 1.7 Zetec, or even the 1.6. The kent derived motor in these isn't the most engaging.

The gearshift however is brilliant

I worked at Dunton while this was being developed. The main issue with the engine is that it was basically our only option. Anything with a DOHC cylinder head was too large at the top end to both fit under the bonnet and also meet pedestrian impact regulations. I seem to remember cooling also being an issue with the Zetec-SE due to the restricted airflow through the engine bay.

The only thing that would basically fit and was a current production engine was the Brazilian 1.6 RoCam SOHC unit.

That would explain the odd-seeming choice then, great info, thanks

[itcaptainslow]

This will be one for a collector who wants an original one without any rust that hasn’t been welded. It’ll never make millions but to the right person it’ll be reasonably priced.

[FWDRacer]

Take a SportKa - Bin the Brazilian 1.6, Add 1.7 Puma motor, stick in a standard 1.3RH rear light cluster and knock the round reversing light out and put a centre exit exhaust there instead.

Result - Car it always should've been.

[Jon_S_Rally]

Didn't realise the reasons for not fitting the SE. Would have been a logical choice, but interesting to know the reasons behind it. A shame, but the reality of the regulations I guess.

I still have a bit of a soft spot for these and they were well-regarded when new. I would be looking over this very, very carefully for rust. The price is high but, for someone who wants the best, it's not exactly mega money.

I'd still quite like a Ka with a naughty, revvy engine in it, would be a good fun little toy.

[Alex_225]

My mum had one of these back in around 2006 and I must admit it was always an absolute laugh to drive. Not overly quick, not particularly good on fuel nor was it well spec'd.

But, the handling was excellent, the gear change was really satisfying and it looked really cool. The very moderate power never exceeded the amount of grip it had in the dry so you could hammer it around and not fear of ending up in a hedge or really going silly in it.

Very underrated fun little car this. I suppose the only thing going against it is that for the money one might command now, you can get more performance from something else but I still think they're awesome.

[Down and out]

WJNB said:

Got lumbered with one as a courtesy vehicle having crashed my company car.
Utterly dreadful little thing & was intensely embarrassed to be seen behind the wheel.
I recall Clever Clogs Clarkson saying it looked like a 'dog taking a dump' - never a truer word spoken.
Classic collectable? - oh please.

It was a Chrysler not a Ka, that Clarkson compared to a dog.

Edited by Down and out on Monday 23 September 10:26

[Toyoda]

legless said:

I worked at Dunton while this was being developed. The main issue with the engine is that it was basically our only option. Anything with a DOHC cylinder head was too large at the top end to both fit under the bonnet and also meet pedestrian impact regulations. I seem to remember cooling also being an issue with the Zetec-SE due to the restricted airflow through the engine bay.

The only thing that would basically fit and was a current production engine was the Brazilian 1.6 RoCam SOHC unit.

Out of interest what engine appeared in the 1.6 Fiesta Freestyle at this time? I'd assumed it was a detuned version of the one fitted to the Fiesta Zetec-S, however is it the same as this one in the Ka?

[WCZ]

never driven the sportka but my 1.3 I had briefly was one of the best handling vehicles I've ever driven. it was just so much fun

[Johnnytheboy]

I really want one of these, but I think the propensity to rust would put me off.

[Jon_S_Rally]

Toyoda said:

Out of interest what engine appeared in the 1.6 Fiesta Freestyle at this time? I'd assumed it was a detuned version of the one fitted to the Fiesta Zetec-S, however is it the same as this one in the Ka?

The petrol engines in the Fiesta were all the Zetec-SE with the exception of the 1.3 Endura push rod, so a 1.6 Freestyle was a 1.6 Zetec-SE.

I did once read that in South America they fitted the 1.6 RoCam into the MK5 Fiesta with the Zetec-S body parts on it.

[njw1]

A mate had a Sportka when they were fairly new, I can remember driving it and being very impressed with the steering feel and handling and whilst the engine didn't really like to rev it had plenty of torque. My missus had a boggo 1.3 (ohv) Ka at about the same time and managed to cook the engine one day when a coolant hose split (no temperature gauge on a Ka!), I had the cylinder head skimmed and put the engine back together with new gaskets and seals which seemed to make it very nippy indeed, I also fitted some wider wheels from an XR2i for more grip and then would find excuses to drive it instead of my car, it was a proper fun thing to chuck about, it reminded me of a classic Mini.

[Johnnytheboy]

I'm relieved to see this is in Durham. I'm far enough away (Dorset) to be safe from temptation.