The first generation of the Ford Ka was a cute little city car, but a mechanic and car enthusiast combined his skills and imagination to create what he describes as an absolute weapon. The pictured Ford Ka Quattro hides a heavily tuned Audi S3 drivetrain under its wide bodykit, making it one of the (if not the) fastest in the world.
The man behind this crazy build is Wayde Evans, owner of the Mohawk Customs shop in Cowbridge, United Kingdom. The conversion – or should be say body-swapping – took loads of time and hard work, but the end result is rewarding.
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The project started with a humble Ford Ka that was stripped from its chassis and welded to the underpinnings of a first-gen Audi S3 (1999-2003). While the three-door hatchbacks have a substantial difference in terms of footprint, the 2,519 mm (99.2 inches) wheelbase of the Audi is only 67 mm (2.6 inches) longer than the wheelbase of the Ford, making the conversion doable.
In order to cover the longer wheelbase and the wider tracks, the Ka received ultra-wide front and rear fenders combined with custom bumpers and extended side sills, making it look like a rally car. For this outcome, Evans sacrificed three or four different bumpers taken from the SportKa and the StreetKa adding extra parts like the pronounced splitter.
Fittingly, the aftermarket LED headlights have the angular shape of the ones in the SportKa (2003-2008). At the back, we find quad exhaust pipes, vented fenders, extra openings on the bumper, and a massive carbon fiber rear wing that is mounted on the tailgate. The interior is quite spartan, with a roll cage making up for the rigidity sacrifices due to the body-swapping.
Under the vented bonnet lies the turbocharged 1.8-liter 20V four-cylinder engine from an Audi S3. However, while the stock S3 produced up to 222 hp (165 kW / 225 PS), this one has been heavily modified, producing 427 hp (319 kW / 433 PS) with the potential of reaching up to 500-600 hp with a more aggressive ECU mapping. Modifications include the Holster Hx35 turbocharger, ACL race bearings, a custom inlet sticking out of the bonnet, and a custom exhaust manifold.
Power is transmitted to all four wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox with the help of Audi’s quattro which in the case of the first-gen S3 is a front-biased Haldex AWD system. The front suspension and large Brembo brakes are sourced from a first-gen Seat Leon Cupra R (2002-2006) which was closely related to the Audi S3. A coilover kit and aftermarket 18-inch alloy wheels round up the changes.
Evans told us he built the car all by himself with very limited tools, so some of the work wasn’t the best. Still, he really enjoyed the project and regrets selling it, hoping to build another one in the future. In the gallery below you can check out a detailed tour of the development that transformed a humble city car into a capable hot hatch.
