Essexman's mixed bag of motors- LTI fairway driver 95 page4

[fred]

I know what I would like to poke

Dont you will get brown blisters

[Ghosty]

A bright yellow one of these had some impressive angles coming off the roundabout in front of me..

 

Caught it too.

 

6.5 from the scotch judge!

 

 

Millennium Edition? Also comes in Puma and Focus flavours.

 

[320touring]

Didnt clock the age, just marvelled at the broadside

[beko1987]

I always wanted a millenium puma! Didnt like the seats though so kept my Black

 

I did like the ka when it was brand spankers new, and the ford dealership in peterborough by pc world had p reg ones on a plinth in the forecourt. Dad had a white M reg mondeo at that point I think...

[Coprolalia]

Fun fact.

Ms_DrJ is an engineer. During one of her forays at work experience pre-uni she did a spell at Ford R&D, Dunton, Essex.

Therein she met the lead designer of the Ford Ka (amongst others) who in her words was "very greasy and odd".

She was informed it should be pronounced 'Ca' as in Cat.

 

So now you can inform anyone who tells you otherwise that your faceless internet friend had it from the horses mouth.

 

As you were.

[Ghosty]

Yeah, before the rust thing emerged they were pretty good on paper, uncle had one for a good while.

 

My dad, having driven an early one as a courtesy car around 2000 seems to think it's what the later Fiestas should have been (he had a Mk2 passed down from my mum who got a CVT mk4 - terrible), sans rust issues of course.

[Noel Tidybeard]

That's rather nice, Luxury model is a bit posh with cream moo!  Seems a bit wrong somehow but still nice and looks to have worn well.

 

I have a soft spot for the Ka, mum had one new on a 53 plate, a special edition 'Collection' which after 3 years hadn't the slightest spot of rust on it so they could last at least that long.  Trouble is, they were 1959 technology wrapped in a funky bodyshell with masses of dirt traps so it was never going to last but then again it was never meant to, it's a cheap, honest and unpretentious little runaround and I reckon the styling has proved surprisingly timeless.  Saving a non-rusty one and squirreling it away somewhere for a few years could be a savvy move, they're likely to start getting pretty rare soon. 

FIFY

[Noel Tidybeard]

every one seems to not pronounce the silent "K" at the end

 

Kak- obvs

[greengartside]

Well bought, sir. The Luxury ones weren't badly specced - heated windscreen too IIRC. This one's been giving me the eye on eBay lately (Luxury model too)....

 

[UltraWomble]

If I didnt need 5 seats these would feature on my "I'll get one of those" lists.

 

I mean I suppose I dont really need 5 seats, the only time all 5 of us are together is at the weekend and then we can use SWMBO car I suppose....

 

Hmmmmm.

[Timewaster]

The early hi spec ones were a Ka Cubed.

Mid spec was Ka Squared.

 

[oldcars]

Update- Ford Ka ( " k a " as the vendor kept repeating) bought.

 

A quick check mechanically showed all was well, the ancient Anglia derived lump thrumming away up front. I was suprised to find air con, and even more suprised that it still worked! I think this one was some attempt at making a posh Ka as there's leather seats and a heated screen too. I had a very good look around and under the body after reading this thread again. I must say aside from one patch on a sill it all looks decent, it was cheap and the deal

was done.

 

It arrived in style.........

 

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It's a tidy thing on the whole. The stereo is the only thing not working ( on but no sound- is there a mute button somewhere or is it knackered?)

 

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I had a rummage around for the locking wheel nut key, which I was glad to find and was hiding under the boot carpet. I found a few other things too....

image.jpg

Atlas ( crumpled)

3L Cider bottle (empty)

Trousers ( pair of, soiled)

Are you spending today ramming 10 ton of waxoil everywhere possible? (the car)

[oldcars]

The early hi spec ones were  Cubed.

 

 

FIFY

[Taff]

This just seems to be a generic modern (well post 1998) thing, my car has a blue light when it's cold, nothing when it's normal and red when it's fucked and the engine has seized/blown a gasket.

 

I'm sure I read somewhere that it was because people were more likely not to thrash it with a blue cold light showing* rather than just a gauge pointing at cold, but the light goes out so soon after starting that the Fiat's (proper) dial would barely have risen off the stop!

 

*Nothing to do with it being cheaper to put two LEDs in than a proper gauge. Oh, no.

 

The lass I've been seeing lately, her '04 plate Beetle has that set up. I feel an urge to top up her coolant every time I drive it.

[320touring]

The lass I've been seeing lately, her '04 plate Beetle has that set up. I feel an urge to top up her coolant every time I drive it.

Is that a euphamism?

[Jim Bell]

Been trying to think of a pun that includes a toilet, suicide and a Ford KA.

 

How about

 

Kama-KA-Zhi?

 

Sorry.

[sierraman]

Didn't the millennium editions of all the fords seem to rust really quickly. Everyone I've seen is scabby as fuck.

[UltraWomble]

Didn't the millennium editions of all the fords seem to rust really quickly. Everyone I've seen is scabby as fuck.

FTFY

Im amazed at the number of scabby Focuses I have seen - Ime an FFS its the 21st Century, they have a moon base, flared white pants, communicators with little b&w tellys in them and all that shit and yet still cant make a Ford that doesnt go crusty.

[Sealtainn]

At the time the Ka came out Ford were calling their "sporty" versions Si but there never was a Ka Si. Shame, wouldn't have minded driving a Ford Toilet

[Split_Pin]

I saw a 59 plate Focus with a holed sill yesterday.

 

Old habits etc.

[twosmoke300]

When I served my time on fords in the early 2000s I can remember welding ka a and escort vans for their first mots

[HMC]

Double post

[HMC]

So one reason this was so cheap ( and haggled cheaper) is that it has a category C marker ( and has gone through a VIC etc) I Did a mid term Policy change with swiftcover, as changing my current policy was th cheapest way to arrange cover, only to subsequently read online that they don't cover C or D vehicles. This was from a wide range of sources including their terms and conditions buried in a dusty corner of thier website.

 

I managed to confirm with direct line that they would cover a cat C, and so went with them. Today I rang to cancel the remainder of the swiftcover policy, explaining about the category C thing, only to be told they've just changed their terms and conditions and now they do cover these!

 

In the end I decided to let the existing policy run out its last couple of months and got a full refund ( cooling off period etc) on the direct line policy. So a bit of messing about, must admit part way through all this I wondered if I should have bothered buying it even if it was mega cheap, but it's all sorted now. Anyone else had similar hassle in the past ?

[UltraWomble]

Cant say I have, last Cat C they wanted a fresh MOT to prove its roadworthyness but asife from that they covered it without any issues.

[HMC]

In the end that old KA was sold on locally.

 

 

The MOT was looming and my shiter's instinct told me to bale out rather than have the MOT man laugh in my face with that little hammer they use to check for corrosion. In fact I still see it around being driven about locally by a young girl. So it survives for at least another MOT, and as yet theres not even any 'powered by fairy dust' graphics on the boot.

 

I've been trawling through some old photos and decided to adapt this thread to show some old pics of the mixed bag of motors Ive had.

 

I have a soft spot for faithful working vehicles. Unpretentious honest old things that are (usually) built like brick outhouses and basically engineered. Maybe this explains my transit obsession? This particular taxi shaped itch id been wanting to scratch for some while. I picked it up for E bay from a dealer in these things. It was one of the last ones that had served London and still had various warning stickers, and advertising down both sides and in the cab. There was probably also all sorts lurking under the rear seat but I never plucked up the courage to delve.

 

Spot the partsbin switchgear!

 

I'd read these are uncomfortable things to tool about in If you value the natural curvature of your spine- Maybe if your working life is spent in one but I found it really quite comfortable. The 2.7 nissan diesel and lazy automatic dictate the pace- there seems little point trying to push it too hard: I found it therapeutic to drive and slurring the changes point to point strangely there was little difference than If id been trying harder in quicker cars.

 

 

 

The interesting thing more than anything was the reactions people had to it, Traffic wardens were courteous, as were most other road users. Pedestrians (usually drunk ones) made a B line for the door if I was at a set of lights. I really enjoyed owning I and provided a set of wedding wheels for a friend, and helped another move flats. Useful things, with as much carrying volume as a small van. In the end SWMBO pressure means its life on the Essexman fleet was short- She refused to sit in it, never mind travel in it! It was easy to sell on; I think these can rot quite badly but MYK was a decent example and the new owner was pleased how straight it was. I threw in a London A-Z too (although proper taxi drivers IIRC are supposed to know all that anyway.)