Citroen C1 review

Predictably, most of the materials are hard and hollow sounding. But at this price, that’s fine. Citroen’s done a good job of making it all look pretty cheery.

Half of the doors are exposed metal, so if you’ve picked interesting paint, it’s a welcome flash of colour among the grey plastic. The speedo is big, round and central, with higher spec cars getting a little digital rev counter tagged on the side. It’s simple but fun.

The centre console is vertical, housing the media and heating controls. Higher spec cars get a decent enough touchscreen system and a natty climate control layout, which again displays some fairly plain info in quite a fun way.

There are hallmarks of cheapness, though; the steering wheel doesn’t adjust for reach, the electric windows don’t zip down with one touch and you need to pay more money if you want that rev counter or even rear seats that split as you fold them.

If you’ve got anything more than a couple of cabin-baggage cases you’ll want to fold them, too; the boot is narrow and not very deep, and only for modest shopping trips. The rear seats are best suited to small people and small journeys. Standard city car fare, of course, but bear in mind that the Fiat Panda and Hyundai i10 are more spacious, practical options in this class. The C1 is best suited to driving on your own or as a (very) small family.