The Chevrolet Spark might seem to stand little chance of making an impact in the busy city car sector but it has some tricks up its sleeve.
Chevrolet is not a well known brand in the UK and it faces some impressive opposition in the shape of the Ford Ka, Renault Twingo and Fiat 500. But it has a few cards up its sleeve.
The first is that, unusually for this sector, all models come with five doors and five three-point seatbelts.
Those in the back better not have overdone it on the cream cakes, however. Those extra doors mean the designers couldn’t make a sleek teardrop shape out if it, but they’ve compensated with a big grille, wacky headlights and a range of eye-catching colours (the model I drove was a lurid shade of green).
The second big advantage is its price. The Spark undercuts most of its rivals by a couple of thousand pounds.
The base 1.0 model comes in at a bargain £6495 but is so bereft of equipment a Spartan would find it, well, spartan. There’s wind-up windows, no central locking and not even a stereo.
Just over £8000 buys you the better-equipped 1.0+ but spend another £300 and you get the 1.0 LS, with a nicer interior, air conditioning, remote central locking and a stereo with USB port for music players all of which make it a much more civilised proposition.
Power comes by way of a weedy, noisy 1.0 litre petrol unit. Fast, it ain’t. Nought to 62mph comes up it 15.5 seconds and only the brave or stupid would take it up to its 96mph top speed.
But this is a car that will spend most of its time in urban environments and a lack of ability to cruise silently on motorways can be overlooked to an extent. That said, I’d probably spend the extra £350 on the 1.2 and enjoy a little more poke.
Though it’s an American brand, the Spark is made by GM’s Korean division. It keeps the American trademark of soft suspension, however, and is well able to cope with the potholes and speed bumps our nation’s roads are now littered with.
Despite the gentle suspension it provides fairly entertaining handling, with body roll kept well in check.
Overall, it’s not bad.
Don’t get me wrong it isn’t anywhere near as good as the Twingo, Ka or the excellent 500. But it is a lot cheaper.
Price: £8495.0-62mph: 15.5 seconds.Top speed: 96 mph. Economy: 55.4 mpg. CO2 emissions: 119 g/km.