This article is from page 28 of the 2009-10-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 28 JPG
IRISH celebrities, mainly RTE Radio and TV personalities, have always had the use of courtesy cars. Now car companies are moving with the times and giving cars to young peo- ple and encouraging them to Twitter leLOltL Melos bmn ere ESE
Recently Toyota were looking for people who had blogs or who would twitter after driving their new iQ model. Actresses Tara Leniston and Amy Huberman are Ambassadors for Fiat’s cute 500 and now Ford has got in on the act by giving their new Ka to four young females or so called ‘Ka Friends’ to test.
TV3’s Anna Daly, fashion photog- rapher Lili Forberg, model Nadia Forde plus Giovanni Trapatonni’s interpreter Manuela Spinelli have all got the use of Ford’s baby car for a few months. And you can check out how they are getting on via Facebook at: FordKa Friends, Ireland.
Manuela said that she drove the original Ka and reckons that the new model is as practical and economical
as the first one.
The original Ka has been around since 1996 and it badly needed an upgrade. Ford say they couldn’t af- ford a complete re-design, so the car is based on the same platform as the Fiat Panda and the Fiat 500 and all three cars are built in the same fac- tory in Poland.
The rear end of the Ka is much eas- ier on the eye. It’s now dominated by two huge red light clusters.
I drove a blue model which defi- nitely attracted a bit of attention. Normally I am complaining about the amount of black that dominates the interiors of cars. The interior of the Ka is so bright, you would need sun glass when you sit in.
The seats are cream and the door panels are beige. The interior décor is brightened futher by a splash of blue on the front and back seats. The back seat is small and while it can accommodate two adults, ideally it’s best suited to children.
The only black featured in the inte- rior is on the console that houses the radio controls, air conditioning con-
trols and gear stick. Half of this con- sole is white which provides a lovely contrast. The volume controls for the radio are a bit small, but you do get slave controls on the steering wheel.
Not surprisingly the boot is small, but you do get a full size spare wheel, which in the case of the Ka is not very big.
By giving the car to four young women, rather than two men and two women, Ford is clearly saying that this car 1s aimed at females. Nothing wrong with that.
I found the Ka a nice city run- around and easy to park in tight cor- ners. The only complaint I had was that it was a two-door and I had to use the ignition key to open the boot. Surely it wouldn’t have been too much of a luxury to include a boot release button in the cabin. I would worry that the key might break with constant use.
Prices start at €11,535 for the 1.2 petrol, rising to €15,125 for the 1.3 diesel. Road tax is only €104. So happy motoring or should that be happy tweeting/blogging.