Why it took Ford so long to make a sporty Ka is anyone's guess. Fitting this city runabout with a more powerful motor was such an obvious step that for seven years, it passed the Blue Oval's product planners by.

That we have the Sportka at all is down to the success of the convertible Streetka, a little roadster so heavy that a new 95bhp 1.6-litre was needed to power it. At the same time, Ford marketers were becoming increasingly concerned that 80% of conventional Ka sales were to women. Taking the more powerful engine and installing it in a Ka with more macho appeal was at last an opportunity too blatant to ignore.

The £9,995 Sportka sits on a modified Ka chassis that has been tuned for sharper steering and handling dynamics. The suspension has been lowered and stiffened with improved toe and camber control, backed up by more powerful brakes and revised steering for 'pin-sharp' response. Power comes from a relatively low-tech eight-valve 1.6-litre engine which makes up for a slight deficit in outright power with a healthy 135 Nm slug of torque for strong pulling power through the gears.

"A fun addition to Ford's motoring family."

This is a welcome feature in a segment where many of the cars have to be revved off the clock every time you want to extract some decent performance. A close-ratio five-speed gearbox enables you to get the best from it. Sixty from rest occupies 9.7s on the way to a maximum of 107mph. Yet at the same time, you should be able to achieve close to 40mpg in normal use.

Visually, it's a Ka and Streetka mix. Sportka shares the roadster's bespoke headlamp units and body-coloured front bumpers with integrated headlamps. At the rear, it's much the same story, the spoiler on the tailgate blending in to a wrap-around rear bumper with a centrally positioned rear reversing light and two rear reflectors. There are flared wheelarches, lowered ride height and six-spoke 16-inch alloy wheels shod with low profile tyres.

Inside, there are sports seats trimmed in a 'keyed' fabric with leather as an option. Doors and dashboard are finished in 'ebony black', while the instrument cluster features black dials with white, backlit numerals. 'Jewel-like' touches of aluminium are dotted around the cabin. The gear lever is topped with the aluminium ball that Puma owners will remember (great in summer but freezing to the touch in winter). The oval centre dash clock is framed with aluminium and the arms of the leather-bound steering wheel are braceletted with aluminium bands. The SE trim package includes leather seats, air conditioning and powered heated mirrors.

Enough of this: what's it like to drive? Well, if you're familiar with the basic Ka, you won't be surprised to learn that Sportka is very enjoyable through the twisty stuff. Perhaps more of a shock is just how much more feisty this car feels than a Streetka equipped with exactly the same engine. Better aerodynamics and a 120kg weight advantage clearly make all the difference, a fact reflected in a rest to sixty time that's 1.5s better. Compared with similarly priced hot-hatch offerings, the Sportka might struggle initially to impress the hotshoe merchants: it doesn't instantly feel so impressively fast as some and there isn't the temptation to be constantly hurling it at the scenery. For this reason, you won't see many Sportka enthusiasts at Max Power-style tuning shows up and down the land. Quite simply, it's a more mature kind of car.

Don't mistake 'more mature' as being another way of saying 'slow' however. The Sportka's ride is supple, mid-Range power is impressive, it's well built and very refined. Against that, larger supermini-based cars are more spacious: if you intend to travel more than two-up very often and need more than a very basic level of luggage space, this could be a key consideration.

Despite the lack of overall space, packaging remains a Ka strongpoint. You wouldn't believe the amount of oddment space and front legroom that the designers have crammed into the tiny cabin. The sheer size restrictions of a car 267mm shorter than the already compact Fiesta had to catch up with them somewhere however, and we've just suggested, the sacrifices have mainly been made around the two sculpted seats in the rear. Still, you can't have everything. Ka buyers will almost certainly have another, larger car anyway.

If that's the case, then a Sportka could well be a fun addition to your motoring family. As fun for the fashion-conscious, there's a long overdue place for it in Ford's product line-up.