I came to the cold, hard realization the other day that for a large portion of the population buying a car is like buying a new stapler, it has to be functional, inexpensive and safe, in other words it shouldn’t break your arm or shoot a staple into your eye every time you use it.

After a while walking in circles with both hands clasping my head and muttering, “No, no, no, no, no” I realized that it’s like saying you going to buy some new clothes for no other reason than that your old set have holes in awkward places and aren’t doing the job they were designed to do. Trendy and stylish have absolutely no meaning and clothes are worn precisely to cover up your meat-and-two-veg and man-boobs, Oh! and keep you warm when the mercury starts dropping.

That’s crazy talk and I’m sure you, the readers of TopCar have more than a modicum of style and petrol-headed ambition otherwise you wouldn’t be readers of TopCar. But these sorts of people do exist and in an efforts to cater to that large portion of the country that thinks that driving something similar to a cardboard box is fine and that the act of driving is merely a necessity of getting from A to B, then look no further than this.

Ford make, and in the past have made some fantastic cars. Think the icon of yesteryear, the GT40 of Le Mans fame, and more recently the new Fiesta and Focus. The Ford Ikon on the other hand seems to be have be designed and produced by a completely different department of Ford and no doubt had huge influence by Ford’s bean counters, as opposed to a passionate design house, and let’s be honest despite the optimistic name won’t become a future icon.

In a way though the Ford’s new Ikon is refreshing. In a market of excess, where new cars are bigger, heavier, loaded with new tech and accompanied by bloated price tags, the Ikon re-invents affordable, dependable and inexpensive motoring once offered only in the past.

The old shape Ikon was based on the first generation Fiesta, and the addition of a boot was its only distinguishable feature. The new Ikon has received a styling upgrade and is now a standalone model and unfortunately bears no resemblance to the new, smart Fiesta. You’ll notice redesigned headlights and front bumper which bring the new Ford Ikon into line with the rest of the Ford range, and at a glance the new Ikon definitely looks like a close relative of the larger Ford Focus sedan.

The Ikon is a Sedan – a word that unfortunately screams boring, grown-up and family orientated. Where hatchbacks have a license to be creative and cutting edge in their design, a sedan is largely relegated to a life of head-over-heart practicality. In that sense then the Ikon scores a bull-eye, and offers interior space, with reasonable quality and ergonomics and fairly large boot that will accommodate 430 liters.

There are three models on offer, the 1.6 Ambiente (base), 1.6 Trend and the 1.4TDCi Ambiente diesel. For a budget beater the Ford Ikon does come with a fair amount of standard kit and includes, ABS assisted brakes, remote central locking, two airbags, immobiliser and power steering with height adjustment. A radio/cd player with MP3 and auxiliary connection with four speakers, power windows all round, air-conditioning, and trip computer are all standard fare on the Ambiente models. Colour coded bumpers with fog-lamps and side mirrors, alloy wheels (plastic covers on the Ambiente models) and a backseat center arm rest is all that sets the Trend model apart from the base models.

The frugal 1.6 liter petrol engines promises you at least 700km per tank, and expect an even lower 5.4 liters per 100km from the 1.4 liter diesel. A figure achieved in the 2009 Total Economy Run. Servicing is required every 15 000km and the first 60 000km is taken care of via a standard service plan.

With some attractive paint colours available, like Aquarius blue and Paprika red to spice things up a bit, the New Ford Ikon is definitely a head-over-heart purchase. But let’s be honest in these tough times few of us can afford the buy-on-a-whim mentality.

If you’re in the market for a new work car that can swallow a sales reps stock, or you’re starting a family soon and you’re looking for a bit more space and you're on a budget then the Ford Ikon (starting at R144 440) is an attractive sale. Affordable, dependable, practical and with low running costs is surely the best way to describe the Ford Ikon.

But as you set off on your journey in a straight line to wherever B might be, sporting your new beige outfit, listening attentively to SAFM – Talk Radio, ask yourself “Honestly, can I not afford to be a just a tad more stylish?”