I don't know so much about the "Elegance" thing, because it's difficult to get a high-set and very roomy supermini like this to look sleek and stylish, but after all that's just the name of a particular specification level in the Colt range, along with Classic, Equippe and Sport. It's also worth bearing in mind, though, that the Colt shape tends to be colour-sensitive, and that the catalogue does include some rather wishy-washy shades which don't do the car a great deal of justice.Under the Mitsubishi bodywork and interior trim, of course, there's a platform shared with the smart forfour, and it's the Colt connection which has allowed the forfour to escape from smart's previous obsession with semi-automated gearchanges. In standard form, the Colt has a conventional five-speed manual as in our test car, although the 1.3 Elegance is also available at extra cost with the AllShift ATM transmission.A fair amount of international co-operation went into the creation of the Colt. It was designed at the Mitsubishi Design Europe studio in Germany, it's built at the one-time DAF factory in the Netherlands which also produces the forfour, and the 1332cc petrol engine is supplied by the MDC (Mitsubishi DaimlerChrysler) engine plant near Leipzig.The interior, though, is all Mitsubishi. MDC's ideas on specifically getting away from imitation leather-grained fascia and door trim, and the use of translucent switchgear as well as that slim column instead of a full-sized centre console, aren't to everybody's taste, but you can't fault a company for trying something new.What really counts about the passenger cabin is the space provided, especially in the rear. The Elegance offers generous legroom there, as well as plenty of headroom all round. The 60/40 split rear seats fold, tumble and so on, and can be removed altogether to give a really large load bay, but I'd say the really important thing is that the seat backs recline. There isn't much point in giving back-seat passengers room if they have to sit at an awkward angle. Another plus point is that it's easy to get in and out of the rear cabin without a scramble. It may be partly getting fed up with low-set superminis which has led an increasing number of buyers to go for higher-built cars like this.Up front, the digital readouts in the fascia-top information panel - separate from the conventionally-placed speedo, revcounter and fuel gauge - could do with being better illuminated for daylight, and this is one of several recently-designed cars in which the angle of the A pillars obscures the view to the right at junctions. Apart from that, there's good all-round visibility, and it's quite simple to dial in a comfortable driving position.Out on the road, the manual gearchange is slick in operation, and while the 1.3 Elegance obviously isn't as brisk as the 1.5 Sport, the smaller-engined car seems to me to perform satisfactorily. It held it own on a couple of long motorway drives, and could be persuaded along quite smartly on lesser roads too.Mitsubishi has gone to a lot of trouble to build in more sound insulation than you often get in cars of this size and type, but the 1.3 engine, although efficient in terms of performance, economy and emissions, isn't a particularly quiet affair, and it rarely fades completely into the background.Two steps up from the entry-level Classic, the Elegance is well enough kitted-out, with front foglamps, front and side airbags, additional stowage spaces, duplicate radio controls, and leather upholstery, steering wheel and gearlever knob.Altogether it's a car designed, if not at a tangent from, then certainly not as a copy cat of, the usual European supermini.Second opinion: Having done quite a lot of country-road driving in the Colt I'm less impressed than the above correspondent by its behaviour in those circumstances. Nothing to do with the handling, which isn't a major consideration here anyway - the problem is that the Colt's ride quality very quickly becomes choppy and uncomfortable. Size is no excuse here, since other small cars do the same job much better. My companion, a lady of refined sensibilities, was quick to complain about this, and she also came up with a damning but very accurate description of the aspect of the interior design about which Mitsubishi speaks most proudly. "It looks like luminous Tupperware," she said. I couldn't have - and in fact didn't - put it better myself. David Finlay. Engine 1332cc, 4 cylinders Power 93bhp Transmission 5-speed manual Fuel/CO2 47.1mpg / 143g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 11.1 seconds Top speed 112mph Price £11,499 Details correct at publication date
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