I looked at the Ford Ikon and couldn't help thinking ol' Henry Ford would have been proud - here was a black Ford Ikon, epitomising his "any colour as long as its black" Model T philosophy all those years ago.
Trouble is, around 100 years later, black suits an Ikon almost as much as the current interest rate suits the Jones'. Not to mention the 14" steel rims with plastic covers and beige cloth seats.
Eish, really not much to look at I'm afraid; I'm sure the Model T fared better back then.
Colour issues aside, the Ikon's really not too bad a car; but first some background.
The previous Ikon was discontinued about 18 months ago but the name was recently reintroduced by the boys at true-blue in 1.4 and 1.6-litre petrol and 1.4 TDCi oil-burner guise.
The bigger petrol engines and the diesel (developed jointly with Peugeot) get a slightly better trim level called Trend, while the 1.4-litre gets the lower-spec Ambiente finish.
This Fiesta-with-a-boot is sourced from Ford's operation in the motherland, India (yes, it's me, the cousin writing this), in Chennai to be precise. Now trust me, this is a good thing.
The Indian market requires serious build quality to deal with its extreme climate and hectic roads - our local minibus taxis would not last five minutes. The engines are assembled in Germany, so this is an interesting combination.
Also worth a mention is that the B-segment Ikon was designed by Ford's global engineering team with input from the UK, Germany and Australia.
The poor thing was then schlepped across nine countries in a 700 000km road test to prove its mettle.
Now back to our Fiesta with a bum. We drove the 1.6-litre petrol - good for 74kW and 143Nm, 13kW and 18Nm stronger than its 1400 sibling and 24kW stronger (but 17Nm weaker) than the diesel.
So no real surprises in the power delivery; it's really a case of getting what you pay for.
You can see the build quality is good by simply looking at it; it looks solid, more serious than the hatchback Fiesta, positioning it towards an older, more mature market.
The bum in question can do 430 litres of luggage compared to the Fiesta's 284, and the rear seats fold down.
It does have quite a bit of Fiesta in the front treatment but the boot, with what seemed to be completely different tail lights, made the Ikon completely different.
Computer modelling
Ford says the Ikon was designed using advanced computer modelling, focussing on things such as energy absorbing crash zones.
It also has body-colour bumpers and mirrors; shweet.
The inside, I must admit, was a bit appliancy but the amount of freebies would shock even a politician. Can you say crash bags, anti-lock brakes, electric windows, heatable rear window, CD player, air conditioning, power steering, front and rear fog lights, central locking and Ikon - all in the same sentence?
Must be cheaper to source in India. Oh, nice bottle holders in the front doors.
Driving the 1.6-litre Ikon is basically an A to B exercise. There's not too much emotion involved, but neither is there too much criticism. You start it, it goes.
It's pointless trying to drive it hard as it's clearly not meant to be pushed, so you get into rented-car-from-the-airport mode and just get on with it.
Stick to the plan
The suspension could be harder, but absorbs typical Gauteng potholes decently enough. Body roll can become an issue when underestimating traffic circles but, once again, stick to the plan.
The clutch and five-speed box felt a little soft; Ford says that the transmission was specifically focused on improved shift quality and reduced gear noise.
Passenger space was more than adequate in all respects, controls were all easy to use, and very little road noise was noted.
The only thing that really annoyed me was the boot, or should I say accessing it - a little ironic, I'd say. For the life of me I couldn't find a place to insert the key in the bootlid, nor a boot button to push (that normally if all doors are open should release the lid).
Thus the only points of entry are the button on the key (God forbid the battery goes flat), or the boot opener inside the cabin. Now with a car like this that will no doubt probably do more business in rental and geriatric environments, I see a problem.
Ford claims a consumption of 7.9 litres/100km for the 1.6-litre.
VERDICT
If I owned a rental company, or had a fleet of reps on the road that carried lots of stock, I would jump at the Ikon. It's well built and will no doubt do the job.
I suspect that it will also appeal to families with small kids, or the older generation looking to drive from Knysna to Wilderness once a week to do some shopping. - Star Motoring