1.0i VTR 3dr Hatchback

Excellent city car - cheap, simple, reliable

It does what you want for a city car. The C1 1-litre is cheap and basic, but economical and ideal for its purpose. I particularly like

(i) body-coloured plastic bumpers which mean that the odd car-park sc***e becomes irrelevant.
(ii) surprising amount of room in the front two seats - with the seats back two six-foot-three adults are perfectly comfortable (but the back seat becomes useless for anyone with legs)
(iii) surprising amount of room for luggage if you fold up the back seat - the C1 accommodated myself, large son and a pile of luggage for a camping weekend.
(iv) lowest possible insurance group makes it ideal for driving lessons for the kids.

It needs a low gear and high revs to get the best out of it - quite happy at 40 - 50 mph in third. A bit of a struggle on motorways but that's not what it is for.

Main (only) gripe: the boot catch tends to jam. It comes and goes with the weather but currently I can't open the boot lid, not that there's much space...

In another couple of years I will give it to one of my offspring and get another one basically the same. I love having a cheap runaround for which I simply don't care about minor dinks and which has been very reliable, and will keep a car like this alongside the 'proper' family MPV.

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