Fiat Tipo review

The family hatch sector is one of the most hotly fought areas of the market, and the Tipo’s focus-group styling would struggle to stand out parked in a desert, yet alone next to a Mazda 3, Renault Megane or Vauxhall Astra.

That said, little else inhabits the section of the price/size graph this car lives in, and the cars that do – Skoda Rapid, Nissan Pulsar – are very dull. We’d have the Fiat. In fact, there are a number of more expensive rivals that we’d argue are less interesting. Would you rather drive a Tipo or a Toyota Auris, for instance?

In Europe, you can pick one of these Tipos up, albeit in basic trim, for less than €11,000, which is remarkable, Dacia-bothering value. It’s already selling rather strongly too, in notchback four-door saloon form that we won’t get in the UK.

Over here, it starts from £12,995 with Bluetooth, DAB and air-con thrown in. The range-topping Lounge spec, fitted with the likeable 1.4-litre motor, wearing 17-inch alloys, a reversing camera, 5-inch sat nav (the better 8-inch system is weirdly denied to Brits) and so on is £15,995 – three grand less than the 1.6-litre diesel version. Worth considering if you’re not into intergalactic mileage to offset the entry fee.

Also worthy of note is its massive 440-litre boot, to which you can add another 110 litres if you pay an extra £1,000 for the Tipo estate. One for the local minicab driver to think about.