Chic and cheerful - the bargain Citroen C2

I am often asked for car buying advice by friends and users of the site.

Today, the conversation turned to a first car for a ‘designer-type’ with a budget of around £2,500. The car needs to be cheap to run and insure, yet not appear so utterly naff as to make the owner an object of ridicule in the company of his friends.

In terms of what’s cool and reasonably sensible, he could do a lot worse than one of his colleagues who’s recently become the proud owner of a Ford Puma. The fact that his friend has just bought one now makes the Puma out of the question so I instead suggested the evergreen Ford Ka, which soldiers on pretty much unchanged until its replacement arrives within the next 12 months or so. An excellent car with a unique style; its ubiquity hasn’t diminished its coolness.

Another car which has just about dropped into the £2.5K price-bracket is the Fiat Panda. Charismatic and practical, this car is a little belter.

Sticking with the practical hatch brigade, but searching for that little extra je ne sais quoi, I would take a long hard look at the Citroen C2. Panache and parsimony go hand in hand with this petite French number.

There’s a nice metallic blue one right now on Auto Trader for £2550. I reckon the private seller would drop a hundred quid or two for a cash buyer.

If you’ve got any tips or suggestions on stylish motoring on a budget, drop me a line.

New Lancia Delta is UK-bound at last

It was way back in 2002 when we began our campaign to get Lancia back into the UK after what was already a lengthy absence of some 8 or 9 years.

Our campaign took the form of a website quite simply titled Bring Back Lancia, and it celebrated the illustrious history of the great Italian marque that had brought us a series of automotive masterpieces over the years such as the Lambda, the Stratos and, of course, the Delta Integrale.

The website was a labour of love for our design team and included some excellent and engaging content including a Lancia Trumps game featuring historical models and a fun Quiz which sorts out the true cognoscenti from the boys.

Graham Whyte wrote a history of the marque while I put my energy into researching the brand’s then current line-up and key concept cars to try to tap into where its future lay.

A return to right-hand drive markets seemed a logical decision, given that Lancia bosses were forecasting massive increases in volumes over the next 5-10 years, but many poo-pooed our suggestion as folly.

In May 2004, Richard Gadeselli, Chairman and CEO of Fiat UK, very politely told me by email “I can confirm that there are no plans whatsoever to manufacture Lancia vehicles in right hand drive format.”

Was he towing the corporate line? Probably. But no matter - what’s important is that Lancia is coming back to the UK with their new Delta and hopefully it will be good enough to convince buyers so that the marque can lay solid foundations for a prosperous future.

Take a look at the BBL website if you have 5 minutes. It’s a bit of a time capsule as it’s never been updated but a few positive comments could push it up the agenda…

I’ve just opened the post and found a speeding ticket, which worries me a bit. Not because of the £60 but because I can’t remember being there at the time.

The offence took place in Luton, so I must have been drunk – I certainly wouldn’t go there when I’m sober. I feel like one of those suspects in a TV cop show: “Where were you at 12 noon on December 17th, 2007?” How should I know? I’m not even sure where I am at the moment.

The car in question was the Vauxhall VXR8, so 63 mph in a 40 limit seems quite restrained. I must have been dozing off. Apparently I was caught in a mobile trap: some gap-year woodentop hiding behind a tree with a VASCAR gun.

Wait a minute. The Vauxhall wasn’t delivered to me until four o’clock: they know not to come too early. So I’m in the clear: someone else was driving it., and I know who it was.

That means I can finger the real culprit: nail him bang to rights. And if I turn grass perhaps they will provide me with a safe house: I could do with something bigger than my flat. But not a house in Luton, I hope: I’d rather pay the fine.

It was the loss of the sensuous styling and sheer good taste of the 1950s and ’60s that fuelled the rise of the classic car movement; but don’t get too misty-eyed.

Here is an advert from Motor magazine, 50 years ago, for the Styla “Western” Spotlight.

Yes, it’s a gun with a bulb instead of a barrel. The advertisement asks: “Are you one of those car owners who like their accessories to have that touch of individuality?”

Indeed, what an individual addition it would make to your Mercedes Gullwing or Ferrari 250 GTO.

Aside from the peanut shaped headlights - Aygo by BYD

One of the less glamorous stands at the recent Geneva Show belonged to the Chinese manufacturer, BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams.

It would appear that BYD is convinced that car buyers are dreaming of Toyota Aygos since the small silver ‘F1′ city car tucked away at the back of its stand bore quite a striking resemblance to the Japanese original.

What do you think?

What's wrong with an orange car?

I gather from recently published statistics that blue is now the UK’s most popular car colour, having nudged silver into second place. But together, these two colours account for almost 50 per cent of the cars on Britain’s roads, and four times the number of red cars, which nonetheless occupy third place in the colour league-table.

What I find sad is the fact that bright, solid, ‘Smartie’ colours account for so few cars. Yellow and orange cars, for example, together make up less than one per cent of the total. Green fares a little better, which I find odd, as a lot of people think of green cars as being ‘unlucky’. (This seems to stem from pre-war days, long before Armco barriers - when green cars that ran off the road could remain in the undergrowth for days, without being spotted.)

Mauve and purple are, nowadays, almost non-existent. That is a good thing. As the light fades in the open country, the landscape turns purple – as all painters know – and any car of a similar colour disappears into the background, which is why I have always described such colours as ‘deadly night shade’.

I have never understood why people buy silver or dull-coloured cars – mine are anything but – so perhaps a reader could explain to me the attraction of these particular shades.