Citroen Saxo 1.1

"AAAhhh, it's a little Citroen Saxo."

Yes, for about a year now I have been driving around in my little Saxo, and I now feel qualified to tell you something about it. This review, I'm afraid, comes four years too late, as the Saxo went out of production in the year 2000. It has since been replaced by a more 21st century, bubble-like car, the C3. There no question that the C3 is the nicer of the two, with its chic French curves, however at £9.000 it's not to everyone's liking.

And so we come to the humble Saxo. Weighing in at 805kg the Saxo is very small, so obviously would not be suitable for big families, or indeed for people with big legs which invariably get crushed if they sit in the back seats. An avid Saxo-spotter, I have found they come in a spectrum of colours, the most offensive and most striking being bright yellow. It is not what I'd call a "pretty" car, in fact it is near identical to the Peugeout 106, but having said this it has lines in the right places, and almost looks sporty. Unfortunately looks are deceptive, and the Saxo is about as sporty as Lisa Riley. I have a 1.1l engine, which can manage 0-60 in 12.4 seconds, and has a top speed of 102mph, a fact that will raise a gasp from some readers. Admittedly a sloth could probably accelerate quicker, but driving the Citroen Saxo is not about speed. Nor, in fact, is it about driving in comfort and luxury: The seats are perfectly comfy, but the interior seems to be made exclusively of black plastic. My car, the Saxo LX does not have air con, it does not have a sun roof, it does not have central locking, nor does it have electric windows, heck, it does not even have a CD player. But, it does have one redeeming feature- character.

Far from being resentful towards Citroen for the small imperfections the Saxo boasts, I am quite grateful for them. This is because they all contribute to its character; for example when I turn up the bass on the radio, the windows rattle in their frames, and then the whole plasticky door starts to rattle. It is little things like this which save the driving experience from becoming monotonous.

Or maybe I'm being slightly harsh on the Saxo, as even without the quirks I think driving it would remain fun. Before this car I drove a Corsa, which was reliable and solid, but it became rather tedious to drive. The Saxo has not yet had the same effect on me. This is probably because it always poses challenges when you to drive it- I get a certain thrill from trying to reach the same speed as other cars whilst driving up a slip road, however much the Saxo might want to continue at its own leisurely pace. Parking is of course a doddle, with the power steering and because the car itself is so minute.

I do, however have one concern about driving the Saxo. I am over 6ft, and I have size 12 feet. Irrelevant? Not when driving this car. The reason is because the foot well is incredibly cramped: to change gear I have to push down the clutch with my toe for it to touch the floor. I also have issues with the accelerator, as it is not wide-feet friendly, meaning that when I accelerate I often inadvertantly end up nudging the break with the same foot. This can make a more exciting driving experience, though as you can imagine, not a very pleasant one!

Before I bought the Saxo, I became an obsessive, hunting down articles and photos on my future car. It was somewhat disconcerting, therefore to find after typing "citroen saxo" into the google image searcher, hundreds of photos of crushed Saxos. This leads me on of course to the safety. As you may have guessed, this is not the Saxo's strong point. Upon impact the airbag, which you would assume is comforting to have, "bottoms out" meaning that the drivers head can come into contact with the steering wheel. There is also no structure in place to lessen side impact, so if you get hit, the Saxo is likely to crumple like a tissue. Obviously this is not a laughing matter, and can be a cause of serious concern. In a crash test the Saxo gained an overall score of 38%. Not very impressive, I'm sure you will agree. In 2000, the last year of production, Citroen introduced many safety measures for the Saxo to help combat these concerns, and passenger and side airbags became optional extras. I suppose a similar issue is that of car security; my Saxo has a factory fitted immobiliser which will hopefully keep greedy fingers at bay. Unsurprisingly for such a small car there is no alarm, or any fancy security equipment, I get the impression that once again, Citroen have adopted the "no frills" approach.

Moving away from the rather grim prospect of crashing, and the dark world of car crime and it is possible to become more upbeat. It would be downright wrong to write a review on the Saxo without mentioning the accessories or modifications you can have. One man allegedly spent £30,000 on modifying his Saxo to be the emitome of "boy racer". Admittedly I do not fit this stereotype, far from it, however you can help to notice the multitude of Saxo's with vast ineffective spoilers and exhaust pipes as big as dustbins. So, if you are that way inclined, there are many mock-chrome accessories and many body kits on sale, costing about £300 to make your car look truly, "bling"?

Probably the main selling point of the Saxo is its money-saving ways. According to the manual, a 1.1l Saxo will squeeze in 46miles/ gallon, which is very economical. Thus far it has also been money-saving in the respect that I have not had to fork out a fortune on repairs or services. So it would seem that the Citroen Saxo is not always small and fun, but also reliable.

With respect to Citroen themselves, I have been very impressed. Their customer service is superb, especially considering that I did not buy the car new, and that it is now four years old. For example, my car was missing the user manual, so as a long shot I emailed Citroen about it. Naturally it was no fault of theirs that I had lost it, but about two weeks later a brand new manual fell from my letter box. This reassured me that Citroen are a solid company, after all it's the little things that count!

Although you can not now buy a new Saxo, if you are desparate to get one, there are plenty of 2nd hand cars for sale. Of course I can not give you a fixed price, because you have to consider milage and age, but I can say that my car, now four years old, with a low milage of about 25,000, cost me £2,200. If you are buying a used car you can celebrate in the depreciation- a new Saxo used to cost about £7,000! Of course this also means insurance premiums that are not too scary. Because of this the Saxo is an ideal car for new drivers. A trip to Ebay.co.uk is always worth it if you are searching for a Saxo, as it should give you an idea of how much you should pay.

I should end by saying that the Saxo sold remarkably well during the four years it was in production, because of its universal appeal. Like Harry Potter, this car can be enjoyed by both the old and the young. Primarily it is a small and cheap car, and I hate to use the expression, but "it gets you from A to B". That is, as long as you do not crash having departed from A, as then your motor will be going nowhere but the scrap yard. Although peppered with imperfections, the Saxo remains a fun car, bursting with charm- one my favourite things to have crossed the Channel.