Fiat 500

On British streets, the 500 gets mobbed. It practically needs its own security detail. Yet there's no widespread folk memory of the original 500 here. If people can't be relating to the new one as a throwback, they must be relating to it in its own right. And why not? It's adorable.

And the new Australia price list makes it a staggering bargain. Not only is it competitive with other baby cars on both space and equipment, it's safer and cleaner. Then, once you've done those boring spec-sheet sums, you can open your eyes and fall in love with the thing.

Never mind the outside, the cabin is in another league from anything else in the fiscal vicinity, for style and quality and choice.

The base 1.2 petrol sounds cheery and smooth without getting too noisy, but its actual motivational force is no more than plucky. It's fairly torquey in the mid-revs, boots you around town with all the vim you'd need and is just fine on motorway cruises, but isn't much of a serious proposition for uphill overtaking.

The chassis is up for games, though; this is a small, tall car, so you get bounced and pitched around a bit in a straight line. A Mini feels more grown-up in this regard because the driving position is lower.

But don't mention the M-word. Yes a Mini is more sophisticated underneath, but level up the specs and it's half as expensive again.

Not quite such a bargain is the 500's 1.3-litre 55kW diesel engine. It adds $1,000. It's superbly smooth and quiet, but dooesn't quite have the torque kick that's got us so into good diesels in the past few years. And the CO2, at 111g/km, isn't so much better than the 119 of the 1.2 petrol.

No, instead get into a 1.2 for $22,990. It has seven airbags, five NCAP stars, remote locking and leccy windows. Lay out another $4,000, and you can fold in a well-chosen combo of extras: a Bluetooth kit plus the vital alloys, stripes and decals. Use any remaining cash to pay the bouncers.