You *can't* overlook the retro-Fiat styling, as that's half of what makes it the car that it is.
If everyone bought cars based purely on things you can put down on paper, we'd all be driving Japanese hatchbacks.
Reading a few reviews of the new Ka, Ford have tweaked it, but the conclusion is - if you want a cute city car, buy the 500 version, if you want a cheap, practical runabout, buy the Panda.
Technically, all 3 cars are of equal ability, with possibly the Ford edging at the limit dynamics, but, ultimately, people will buy the badge and image that best suits.
Lets put it another way - if Fiat had launched the Ka, I wouldn't want one. Because it looks like a Mazda 2 that's been rear-ended.
body coloured bumpers poor spec but then thats the same with the first of any car, early mini's weren't great. you know what bugged me the most with the KA? wasn't that the peddals were a little close or that some i drove had no PS it was the s**te glove box with a pull of lid. most stupid idea ever, i dive into the glove box now and then to grab some gum or to grab the windshield wiper sponge thingy at traffic lights, last thing i wanna do is drop the lid to the box on the floor and try and grab it before the lights change and then it rattles cos if you managed that the damn thing aint on properly. that and the face the glove box held f*ck all.
still at the back of my mind i'd probably let it go cos i'd be like 'i can't believe how cheap this car is!'
But that aside, you wouldn't buy it with a Ford badge on its arse, even if it looked exactly as it does now...
Not necessarily... but as with the Mini, there will be plenty of mongs who buy the 500 based on image and will struggle with the limited space etc, rather than buy something which actually meets their general needs.
URLs?
And again, the Panda is poxy space wise if you are on the stockier side, something which the original KA isn't, so I do hope that hasn't been lost in the current version.
So what you're saying is, they'll be buying the KA, then? :-P
They're actually a *good* thing for learner drivers etc.
Mine had PAS, leccy front windows and a factory CD headunit - it wasn't top of the range either, being a KA2.
Being an R plate, it was one of the early ones, and so I don't see, having owned other small stuff of that era, how the spec was particularly s**te for its day.
Mine had the rotating insert glovebox - didn't use it for much.
The door pockets were quite big, and then there's the cup shaped recess in the carpet just by the handbrake - a good one for gum / mobile phone etc.
From my own point of view, I bought that KA purely on the strength of 'Fuck me, that's cheap - maybe she'll want to learn to drive if I buy that, but if not, it'll fetch a decent profit'.
I didn't want one really when I bought it, but once I'd driven it around for a while, I realised what a bloody good car it was. :-)
My biggest gripes with it were the tiny boot - way too small really, and the fact it only had two belts in the back, when you could get three people in there.
I think almost all the car buying public in the UK would know the Mini. With the 500 though, a huge chunk of the same public wouldn't have even heard of the original Fiat 500, all the car fans would, and a load of the older buyers would - but a lot of young women buyers and people who aren't 'into' cars won't have heard of the original 500 - I mean, why would they? If we were in Italy however, it would be the other way round I bet - although Italy seems to be more 'car loving' than the UK - and the Mini has been in films about robbing their gold hehe :-D
To be fair, I think the one that's closest to it's original is the New Beetle. I've not exactly seen a lot of original 500s, or new 500s seeing as I haven't been anywhere bar a hospice for the past few months so I don't really know about that one - and pictures don't show the real life thing of course. Finally the Mini, hmmmm, you can see it from the shape and the front of the car - to me it's easily recognised, dunno about to other people really, I don't know if say, my 26 year old cousin Gemma would've got it before they came out, an being young and blond, she's probably their target market.
It's a modern car that happens to look a bit like a piece of s**te they knocked out several decades ago.
There's no direct 'heritage', they've just styled their generic small modern hatchback to look a bit like said piece of s**te, and people like you consider buying one on the strength of this, regardless of whether or not it would actually meet with your needs. :-)
In its day, like the Mini, the 500 proved to be efficient for its day in terms of space / weight etc.
The new one doesn't even have its engine in the same place...
I'll put it another way - those likely to buy a 500 are the same people who probably bought one of those horrid Nissan Figaro things, and we all know what sort of freak they attract. :-P
A friends daughter has just sold on her perfectly good Ford Puma 1.7 and replaced it with a Figaro, because 'I like the styling'.
The Puma never gave her any grief, the Figaro has been a PITA money pit from day one, yet she still thinks she did the right thing getting it.
There must be others, and online - come on, back up the above with something of substance. :-P
*I'm* almost certainly not in the demographic Ford came up with for KA ownership, when they developed the original KA, and yet I learned pretty quickly to appreciate it for what it was once I had the use of one.
Yes, I'll grant you that one... it's just a shame you need to be a waif to fit comfortably in the drivers seat.
So buying it on the strength of image rather than what it will actually do for you, then... which proves my point. :-P
No-one is likely to buy a Stilo...
The 500 looks jelly mould'esque as much as the rest, shell profile wise.
This is something a set of retro'esque lights can't completely mask.
And Ford is in dire straits, on the brink of collapse. That surely must count as how good their cars are. And no: it isn't just Ford USA: the new Mondeo is said to be a hit but why are about 1000 people going to be laid off at the plant who makes it?
What's that gotta do with the cars? That's just bad management.
The Ka must have been around for well over a decade by now and there must be
100s of thousands on the road. Surely that says something about it? A good friend of mine owns a basic spec one and puts loads of miles on it - for a cheap mode of transport she just cant fault it as it just keeps going. And now the time is approaching to replace it she says she's probably gonna end up getting another one to zip about in, just with a few more luxuries.
hey i got slated for saying mongs! and who you calling a mong (now mini driver) :) to be honest the lack of space didn't bother me, i wanted cheaper than my BMW, something that was fun to drive even with a small powerplant and something a little different style wise with a hint of cool. i also like the way the hold there value fairly well. you'll always sell on a mini. oh and i also liked the fact steveh would hate it, forget that important point.
my sis likes them they aint that bad are they? they do look kinda cool in a retro way but are strictly for girls i think.
all woman buy cars like that though
that's cos your thinking like a man
why have more when hes found the 1 review that he agrees with? others might not huh
so he'd buy the new 500 cos it looks a bit like the old 500 like the new mini looks a bit like the old mini but the people who buy the mini for that reason are idiots?
3 people? hobits maybe not people! the mini's boot is laughable but then i'm never likely to use it, and if i did only for the odd bag which fits easily.
Three reasonable sized teenagers... or my two and my missus fitted in there without any probs, on occasion.
SWMBO wanted one of these when I got the Fabia... aside from how ridiculously dear they were at the time, the boot and the reliability issues I'd heard about put me right off.
A lot of people wouldn't have a Panda *because* of the image. The words 'Fiat Panda' for most people just conjures an image of a shitty old comedy square rust bucket - as the old ones were just shocking by the time we (me/mates/other people my age) were old enough to drive. One lad at college had one that he'd bought for £100 and it somehow had like 10 months MOT - when there was no way it'd gone that far downhill in two months... And now the old Panda gets grouped in with things like old Skodas and Ladas for most people, an although I've seen awesome examples of all of them, I must admit I can see why it happens.
The new one of course is a LOT nicer and is like semi-cool - only snobs would mock you for owning one I'd imagine. There is of course the problem of James May owning one as well hehe ;-)
Personally I still wouldn't have one because I'm not a huge fan of the looks - although the 100 is quite funky chunky - and because the fastest one still only has 100bhp, and that wouldn't be enough for me I'm afraid - I'm a power snob hehe! That said, if they put the 180bhp 1.4 Turbo into the Panda
4x4, and they're as awesome as I imagine, then I'd want one! Four-wheel drifts in a Panda would be so awesome!
It was me first that said it actually, and shortly after I posted it I felt bad - knowing some of the groups history / friends etc. That was before I was handicapped myself (Karma?), and that phrase doesn't bother me at all - it's a lot better than it could be as I've heard far worse, which even before my problems I didn't want to hear. Anyway, I didn't think it was bad, but some members off here, with perfectly valid and understandable reasons, were quite unhappy about it, even those who you'd be surprised at to be honest.
You're speaking to someone who has owned three of the later FIRE engined Pandas, and bpught them out of choice rather than necessity.
Excellent economy (although this went to pot if you ventured much beyond 70 on a run), and more importantly, I fitted in them fine.
I have particularly fond memories of the first one - £250, and for that I got a long MOT, and rotten door bottoms and bonnet edge.
Utterly reliable with something like 130k on the clock - let me down just the once, and that was when the CV joint which had been clicking for weeks finally popped enough bearings out of the cage to stop the car from moving.
I only got rid of it after it got rear ended by a Transit which shunted it into a towbarred up Montego, and I got paid out on it.
The front crossmember ended up bent, and this caused for the tracking to go to pot.
One of the others I had was an S model with the twin roll back roofs... lovely on a summers day. :-)
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