The last of the mohicans. Review on Ford Ikon 1.6 ZXi

Its like this. For us who get their dose of adrenalin from behind a steering wheel in India - you've either driven a 1.6 Ikon, or you haven't. As absolute as that! And if you think that reeked of bias, try this for size - you've either driven flat out on top of a high altitude desert somewhere before Leh in a 1.6 Ikon, or you haven't. For any of you who have, you know what I am talking about, and for all those other deprived souls, raid your piggy banks (for thats how little it would cost you today) and go buy a good 1.6 Ikon off the resale market (for Ford decided to replace the jewel with the relatively wimpy Fiesta 1.6) and call me back for a road-map to nirvana.

The car

Its a shape that grew on the Indian mindset. Not as conventionally good looking as say the Accent, it took us some time to get used to oversized tail-lights, raised-in-the-air butt-end, kink in the C pillar (behind the rear window). But once you started staring long enough at these very lines (and the 2003 models with their clear lens tail lights helped), the Ford genes started emeging out of the bodywork. You could haul me up again for bias, but I started seeing a bit of the legendary Mustang, in that kink in the C pillar, and the front-end with drooping bumpers at each end with inset fog-lamps - they are to die for! As an overall design from outside it looked as tight as a pair of Levis slim-fits on a supermodel. The competition I am afraid, was blown into the weeds! But thats bias again.

On the inside, its a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. The steering and dashboard - great! Which other Indian car made you feel like a racer the moment you sat behind the wheel? Small diameter steering (I am talking 2003 model, remember), with dimpled grips, and a small bump nudging your thumbs at each end of the thumb grip. You'd be doing a 100 just sitting there! White backed instruments, short, stubby, chrome ringed gear shift and a dash that just swoops away from you and then caves in at the passenger/co-drivers knees, for that much more leg room. Brilliant I say! Sadly, the joy ends right about there. The front seats are smallish and not with nearly as much back support as my Uno which I traded in for this car. But they are ok for a medium built driver/passenger. Leg room is not a problem up front, even if you are taller than average. Pedals are placed perfectly, and you never tire even on long drives. And the seat height's perfect. You don't feel your butts scraping the road as in a City or an Esteem.

The rear seats are a good place to be in too, I'm told. For I hardly ever visited that area. It seats two people in comfort, three in a squeeze. And the times I've been there for any length of time, I sorely missed a higher head-restraint. Tall people trying to catch a snooze in the back seat is a sure-fire invitation to a pain in the neck. So, now I've described the good and the bad of the interiors. The ugly, you ask? Why, the door trim of course! They are straight out of the 70's!

But anyway, you don't buy an Ikon for rear-seats, or door trim, or bootspace (although, there's more than you need of that). You'd buy it to rev the pants of this delightful engine and to catch the sweep of that fluorocent orange needle on the white backed tacho! I bunged in a K&N filter in place of the stock one, and although, nobody would accuse me of being a reckless driver, nobody is around to see the glee in my eyes as I take the car upto 4000 clicks on the tach, just to hear the grrrowl from that engine ahead! Have an Ikon? Fit one! The car can be as much of a hooligan as you want it to be, and barely civil when you dont. Approach a roundabout at 80, hold the speed as you enter, just a smidgen of the brakes on the apex if you feel you are overcooking things and bang! You're through. Try that in ANY other car, and you can write me postcards from heaven. The brakes are good without being exceptional, but whats a sports car without some hairy bits eh?

The suspension - now thats a major debate. I love it. Its firm without being 'planks of wood', but people used to Optra levels of butt-friendliness will find this less than satisfactory. But then, I already said what these soggy-springs cars will do at that roundabout @80. And we are not talking to back seat riders anyway, right? Right.

And what better proof to the might of this little rocket than a personal endorsement to its unflinching performance all the way to Leh from Delhi, over Kargil, Dras, Jozila pass (Sumo's can have their guts ripped out in this stretch!), Sonmarg, Srinagar and back. All without a single puncture or a scrape mark!

Economy? I unfailingly get above 11 on my city cycles and around 15 on the open roads. Parts are on the higher side, but thats only when you prang the car. Service intervals of 10000 kms @ 2,500 approx per service, is just fine for a vehicle of this class.

Where to get one?

You can't buy it off a Ford dealership any more. Like I said, they've ceased producing the ROCAM motored 1.6. You could try the resale market however. There won't be many 1.6's out there. They sold in lower numbers than their 1.3 sisters in the first place. And people who bought them, stay with them, now that the Honda City (older one) is also dead. No other perf-mobils on the turf, unless you're talking mega-bucks and an Octavia RS. But try your luck. Should you come across a good specimen (they are usually well maintained by their owners) at an agreeable price, AND if you like your shot of adrenalin behind the steering wheel on the odd weekends - GO FOR IT!

p.s. I'm selling mine. Anybody in the NCR interested, drop me a line.