Recently, Ford announced the end of the road for their Bantam. A local curiosity, this bakkie no longer fits in with Ford’s global scale, apparently. The death of Bantam spells the end of an era for a vehicle that’s as ‘braaivleis and sunny skies’ as you can get. We’ve had three generations of the Bantam here since 1983; all designed in South Africa with parts scavenged from bits and pieces in the Ford line-up. Whilst its demise may not cause any tyre burnings in protest on the N1, what do you drive if you live in Bellville?

Enter the Mazda2 sedan. It’s not a Ford. And it’s not a bakkie, either. But it does have some vague similarities. Let me explain. The sedan is based on the excellent Ford Fiesta and it features a massive boot, swallowing 450-litres of your garden rubbish, shopping or bits of scaffolding. So what we have here is a modern Bantam bakkie with room for 5 and more sophistication than any Bantam could ever dream of. Think of it that way and you’ll love it.

The Mazda2 sedan shares a similar face to that of its hatchback sibling. In fact it’s pretty much the same, save for the very large boot tacked onto its rump. It’s never easy for designers to happily resolve the addition of a boot to a car that’s been designed as a hatchback and the Mazda2 is no exception. “Yes, your bum does look big in this.” But looks can be deceiving. The car on which it’s based is a hefty 100kg less than the car it replaces and is a bit shorter and significantly lower too. That’s quite an achievement when you consider it has the safety kit and impact friendliness towards pedestrians demanded by the buyers and legislators. Normal steels have been replaced by various grades of extra-strength steel, which they need less of. All sorts of components have been redesigned with an eye to shaving away excess weight, from suspension components all the way down to the speakers.

Mazda reckon it has been designed for joy and love of ownership, so what was it like when I tested it? Mazda sent me the entry-level offering, the Mazda2, 1.3 Active. Armed with 63 kW to play with, I had a feeling that the car and I were not going to be to ‘zoom-zooming’ all that much and I was right. 0 to 100 km/h ambles along in… well… in due course. But let’s look beyond the numbers here. The Mazda has most of the design tricks typical of most superminis, like chamfered front corners and eye-shaped headlights languishing along the front wings, a stubby bonnet and a steeply rising waistline. Whilst its simple and uncluttered, it’s from the C pillars backwards that it starts to look awkward. I must confess that it looked terribly ‘under wheeled’ with its 14-inch steel wheels and plenty of gap between the tyres and the wheel arches.

Inside, the simple theme continues with variations of black and silver. The deep front side windows give an airy ambience and the fascia is populated by a circular theme, be they the four vents, the central information display or the big speedometer and smaller rev-counter. Then there’s the clever, original stuff. The handbrake is offset towards the driving seat, so there can be a handbag-sized shelf next to it. An MP3-compatible jack socket sits nearby and the glove box lid forms a built-in magazine rack. You’ll also find front and rear electrically-operated windows, manual air-con; remote central locking and a height adjustable steering wheel. Safety features are also impressive with ABS (anti-lock braking system), EBD (electronic brakeforce distribution), dual front airbags and ISOFIX child seat attachments included. It’s a roomy little car, too, especially in the back and of course that Bantam-like boot will swallow most of what you need to lug around. But it’s a pity there are no soft-touch finishes to relieve the cabin’s hard plastics.

So, does it zoom in other areas? Well the engine does spin smoothly without too much boom. The suspension is handled by MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion-beam axle at the rear. Dynamically, Mazda have engineered this car to tighten its cornering line if you lift off mid corner, because the engineers rightly think it helps you get round a bend you may have entered too quickly. True to type, the car never feels unstable. Press on though and there’s a rubbery response to inputs that makes the otherwise quick acting steering a bit soggy. The trade-off is quite a soft, supple ride that absorbs sharp edges.

The B-segment is an important market for Mazda and this car enables them to add some valuable market share. But would you feel joy and love if you owned one? Overall, the result is a fairly competent and safe drive, rewarding you with decent fuel consumption figure of 5.8 L/100km and 4-year/120 000km warranty. Mazda offers four model derivatives: the 1.3 Active; 1.5 Active; 1.5 Dynamic and 1.5 Individual. It’s a good little car though, being friendly and frugal. Sadly, no diesel offering made the cut. I’d go for the thrifty base version. The Bantam is dead. Long live the Mazda2 sedan.

What we like…

• Unpretentious and roomy.
• Cheap to run.
• Not offensive.

What we would like…

• A punchy diesel.
• Some soft touch plastics.
• A normal Mazda2.

Richard Webb is the publisher of Blower, South Africa’s longest running car magazine and contributor to SACarFan.