Nissan Micra C+C 1.6 Essenza

The idea, I guess, is to go for the VW Beatle wannabe owners market, but on a tighter budget. If you look at this Nissan and squint a bit, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a VW Beatle with its stunted bonnet and bug eyed headlights.

There is more to this car than that though. The 1.6-litre model offers two rear seats, for the more diminutive passenger, a little on the small side, they're better used for storing your Next shopping bags than actually sitting on.

The 1.6 Sport costs £13,995 and the 1.4-litre model Urbis is a nice £13,190.

The Micras C+C 1.6-litre petrol engine performs pretty well, giving you 0-60mph in 10 seconds and top speed of 119mph. The 1.4-litre is not too far behind with 12.1 seconds for the 0-60mph and a top whack of 109mph.

If you can live without air con and a couple of the more forgettable extras, the 1.4-litre is a very good purchase. As standard you get electric windows, trip computer, radio/CD, electric and heated door mirrors and leather seats.

The top of the range Essenza heats those seats for you, gives you Electronic Stability Program (ESP), intelligent key system, 6 CD autochanger, tinted headlights and alloy kicker plates on the door cills.

The drive and handling are respectable but wind noise might be an issue with some buyers.

All in all it's a decent little car that quite proudly announces itself as average and what's more is, it's largely British, designed in London, developed in Bedfordshire and built in Sunderland.