Right, let’s talk about the Citroen C3 Aircross. Look at it. It doesn’t look like a serious, terrifying German off-roader that wants to eat your face. Instead, it looks like a very cheerful, slightly confused space capsule that’s been crossbred with a Tonka toy. It’s got these wonderfully chunky plastic bits, squinty daytime running lights, and a silhouette that screams, "I am incredibly practical, please love me!"
And do you know what? I really do. In an automotive landscape where every single hatchback and crossover is trying to be a lap-record-shattering track weapon with suspension carved out of solid granite, Citroen has done something genuinely brave. They’ve made a car that is unashamedly, delightfully soft.
Step inside, and it doesn’t have aggressive body-hugging sports seats. No, it has armchairs. Proper, squishy, living-room-style sofas that cosset your backside. Hit a massive British pothole, and instead of shattering your spine, the C3 Aircross just lopes over it with a gentle, relaxed sigh.
Granted, if you approach a roundabout with any real degree of enthusiasm, the body roll is spectacular. You will feel like a captain steering a trawler through a North Sea gale. It is not fast, and it handles like a jelly on a washing machine. But it is bursting with character, it’s immensely clever with its space, and it refuses to take life too seriously. It is a wonderfully eccentric, brilliantly comfortable little machine, and I think it’s absolutely fantastic.