I recently had to take the Astra in to the local Vauxhall dealer for a service. They gave me a Corsa 1.2 courtesy car, which looked quite sporty but, it turned out, was one of the most sluggish cars I've ever driven. I almost turned around to return it as faulty, but in fact I was subsequently told it was just a dog slow car for youngsters to look good in without vast insurance costs. How shallow, but fair enough I suppose. Anyway.
The service turned into a longer stay for repairs, and they swapped my Corsa for a similar car by the garage's other dealership, Chevrolet. Now, I'd never paid much attention to Chevys before, except for Camaros. This wasn't a Camaro, sadly, it was called a Spark LT.
My 12 year old son thought it looked great, but I confess I referred to it during my tenure as the 'clown car'.
I must confess to be surprised to discover that the LT is top of the line and the list price of this car is £10.5k. Hmmmm.
My 12 year old son thought it looked great, but I confess I referred to it during my tenure as the 'clown car'.
I must confess to be surprised to discover that the LT is top of the line and the list price of this car is £10.5k. Hmmmm.
Well, I suppose it is quite well equipped. Alloys, fog lights, air-con, adjustable seat belts, sports bumpers (?!) and a lot of stereo.
So, was it any good? It was okay. But the looks. I couldn't quite work out who would buy this car. Certainly not an old gadget like myself, it would be embarrassing. Young people then... but I'm not sure, it's not as appealing as some similarly wacky looking Citroens somehow. There's too much styling... what are those roof rails for? Are the black stripes and flashes helping, really, I mean they're just stickers. The alloys aren't alloy-ee enough.
The interior (again) appealed to my son, and I guess it was quite different. There's a lot of bare metal, but not in the name of austerity so much as style, and in places it worked. Though, quite often reflection from the metal of passing trees would momentarily distract. But it was comfy and modern. The instruments were odd, however, a strange combination of digital and analogue, hard to fathom what you were looking at half the time.
It grew on me after a couple of days I must admit. It wasn't fast but it was perky, it did the job quite well, the cabin was okay to be in, and of course from there you can't see the outside, possibly a blessing. Let's put it like this, it's not a boring car. Which is a good thing.
So, was it any good? It was okay. But the looks. I couldn't quite work out who would buy this car. Certainly not an old gadget like myself, it would be embarrassing. Young people then... but I'm not sure, it's not as appealing as some similarly wacky looking Citroens somehow. There's too much styling... what are those roof rails for? Are the black stripes and flashes helping, really, I mean they're just stickers. The alloys aren't alloy-ee enough.
The interior (again) appealed to my son, and I guess it was quite different. There's a lot of bare metal, but not in the name of austerity so much as style, and in places it worked. Though, quite often reflection from the metal of passing trees would momentarily distract. But it was comfy and modern. The instruments were odd, however, a strange combination of digital and analogue, hard to fathom what you were looking at half the time.
It grew on me after a couple of days I must admit. It wasn't fast but it was perky, it did the job quite well, the cabin was okay to be in, and of course from there you can't see the outside, possibly a blessing. Let's put it like this, it's not a boring car. Which is a good thing.
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