Citroen Ami review

As an example of what to expect when you slip into an Ami, it’s probably wise to point out that there are three buttons on the dash. Three. One for the fan (single-speed, sounds like a hairdryer), one for the hazard lights and one for the heated rear windscreen. That’s it. You engage drive, neutral and reverse with a trio of buttons in the base of the seat.

Both seats are plastic spoons accessorised with a bottom and back pad, the consistency of which apes that of the average kitchen worktop. It looks like an interior you could hose down… and that’s probably the point.

Also on the dash is a dock for your smartphone, along with a USB port for charging. Luggage lives in either a small cubby behind the driver’s seat or to the left of the passenger’s legs, although you’re talking about a shopping or handbag rather than a trip to Jewson’s for a stack of lumber. Just 63 litres of cargo space, going by the paperwork.

After that, there’s a couple of cupholders, a set of rubberised trays on the dash and fixed-with-a-flap, prop-plane style windows: Citroen reckons these pay some sort of vague homage to the 2CV, but more likely it’s one less mechanism to deal with. The kind way to put it is that there’s not much in the way of stuff to fail here.

Interestingly, it feels ultra airy thanks to a panoramic glass roof and lots of glass to the fore across the dash. Be warned though: if you’re even remotely tall you’ll need to hunch your neck down to see traffic lights, and those tiny mirrors are prone to shaking themselves out of position. Which is annoying when you’ve got in and out half a dozen times to adjust the passenger-side one before setting off.

One thing to point out is that the charging cable is tethered and stuffed into a hole in the passenger side door, although there is a handy cutout for the cable so you don’t need to feed it through the window to charge.

And the doors - mirrored as they are, open suicide-style for the driver and conventionally for the passenger, as well as having different locking/opening mechanisms. Quirky.