Volkswagen Lupo (1999 - 2004)

High build quality. 11' 7" long by 5' 5" wide. Same car as Seat Arosa, built at Wolfsburg, with cute front-end styling, much nicer interior, twin airbags, height-adjustable driver's seat and steering wheel as standard.

Formed basis of '3-litre car' - capable of 100kms on three litres of petrol, equal to 94 mpg. 1.4s have new twin-cam 16v engine. 1.7SDI charming, economical and not too slow - a far better bet than the 1.0 litre petrol version.

100 bhp 1.4 16v Sport from September '99. 75 bhp 1.4 direct injected diesel option. Lupo FSi with direct injected petrol engine giving 105 bhp and 56 mpg shown at 1999 Frankfurt Show.

Six speed gearbox and alloy body panels for 125bhp Lupo GTi at no extra cost from mid 2001. Now does 127mph, 0-60 in 8 seconds.

Price of base model 1.0 cut to £6,995 in April 2002. Both 1.7SDI and 1.4TDI emit 119g/km CO2, so qualify for reduced £35pa VED from March 2007.