Despite its rather aggressive looks, the Chevrolet Spark is one of the humblest cars you can buy today, though I would go so far as to suggest that it's also the best model (in terms of achieving what it set out to) that Chevrolet currently builds.It comes with a choice of two petrol engines, a one-litre and a 1.2, and if you want the CARkeys verdict on the 1.2 you can find it in this road test. The 1.0 is significantly cheaper, partly because the LS trim level is the highest in the 1.0 range and the lowest in the 1.2.The most basic 1.0 offers less expensive offering than almost anything else in the new car market. You can all but pick one up as a free gift at your local Chevrolet dealer, and insurance companies will cover you in return for three stamps and a packet of wine gums. The LS will cost you more, but at the time of writing its list price is still well under £9000.Officially, all Sparks, regardless of engine size, have the same combined economy (55.4mpg) and CO2 emissions (119g/km), but it's more than likely that the 1.0 will use less fuel in normal driving.All this being the case, why would you go for the larger engine? Well, it's the performance. The 1.2 can haul itself from 0-62mph in just over 12 seconds, but the 1.0 takes 15.5 seconds to perform the same feat, and you might have a problem with that. To put it in real-world terms, a colleague who drove another 1.0 at about the same time as I drove this one resolved that he would take it nowhere near a motorway, not so much because he wanted to go quickly as because he didn't think he would feel safe driving something that would barely outdrag an HGV.I can see his point, and I would add that the motorway is not the ideal environment for any Spark because the body shape makes it vulnerable to side winds. But I didn't drive this particular car on any motorways because the need didn't arise. Instead I drove it on country roads (where it handles well, though you have to keep the throttle pedal buried in the carpet for most of the time) and in town (where it's okay, though it would be better if it could more easily be persuaded to move smoothly from a standstill).The worst thing about the Spark is the miserable lack of window space at the rear. Not for the first time, here's a vehicle which is perilous to manoeuvre in a supermarket car park even though it is likely to spend a large proportion of its time being asked to do just that.Speaking of supermarkets, I suspect that most owners will use the Spark to transport nothing more challenging than a week's shopping, so the modest 170-litre boot is probably sufficient (it's slightly larger than that of a MINI, for example). The narrow tailgate and high rear sill make loading more difficult than it needs to be, though Chevrolet has admittedly done a better job of this than manufacturers of other small cars. Engine 995 cc, 4 cylinders Power 68 bhp @6400 rpm Torque 69 ib/ft @4800 rpm Transmission 5 speed manual Fuel/CO2 55.4 mpg / 119 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 15.5sec Top speed 96 mph Price From £8951.00 approx Release date 01/01/2010
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