IREALLY wanted to hate the i10. I wanted to hate its daft little name, its daft little shape, its daft little engine, which I was sure would take longer to reach 60mph than a coat of paint would take to dry, and its daft little wheels that appeared to have been stolen out of a trolley parts bin.

I wanted to hate it so much that the first day I had it I parked it in a non-too-salubrious area of town in the hope someone might pinch it, or at least put a dirty great scratch down the side of it. They didn't.

Now this may all seem a tad irrational, but hear me out.

The main reason why I never gave the Korean box a chance was because I had messed up, to put it bluntly.

It was the weekend of the wedding of one of my best friends and I was going to turn up to the big do in a car straight out of Toytown.

How could I have been so stupid?

It got to the point where I was on the verge of ringing up the lovely people at Hyundai PR and asking them, no, begging them, to give me something, anything else - a Coupe, a Getz, even a Sonata.

I didn't have the nerve, sadly, so there I was, stuck, with a car so bright red it could not have screamed loser on board' any louder if it could have talked.

Even the wife had gone ahead in the family Zafira rather than come with me. She said it was because she had to be there early because she was a bridesmaid, but I knew the real reason.

Dressed in my finest bib and tucker I tootled off towards almost certain ignominy.

What happened next was most unexpected. OK, it wasn't quite on the scale of Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus, but it wasn't far off.

You see, despite leaving myself plenty of time I was late. I have a degree of obsessive compulsiveness that appears to be getting worse the older I get and generally requires me to check I have locked each door and window at least a dozen times.

Consequently, my estimated time of arrival at the wedding venue was getting later and later.

Stuck in town, with a good 30 miles to my destination, it appeared the odds were against me. But then something wonderful happened.

A road that appeared clogged with traffic opened up before me.

However, it wasn't the road, it was the little red car.

Such was its miniscule size that it was able to nip in and out of the vehicles and dive through gaps that appeared not to be there.

Its little gearbox, located just below the central fascia unlike many of its rivals, changed quickly and smoothly.

I was beginning to have fun. I switched the radio on, expecting it to sound like a pea rattling inside a drum and was again pleasantly surprised. It was almost like Eamonn Holmes was sitting next to me.

I had envisaged that driving further than down to the local shops would lead to a sore behind but again I need not have worried. The seats, while not exactly sofa-like, appeared more than capable of holding up on a reasonably long journey.

I was warming to the i10 and began to look for other positives to further lighten my mood.

For a lower end car, it was neatly packaged. It was certainly roomier than it appeared on the outside, and while I was not carrying passengers, it looked capable of accommodating them in comfort.

Equally, I had been able to get my overnight luggage in the boot without a problem and had still left enough room for whatever surplus my wife had for me on the return journey.

While it wasn't exactly designed for motorway driving, the i10 coped well enough and didn't scream for mercy when the speedo reached the 70mph mark.

Pulling up to the venue I presented by steed with another challenge and once again it passed with flying colours.

Most people had already arrived and the only space left appeared an impossible ask. Surprise, surprise, it squeezed in, no problem.

Remarkably, my mood had completely changed. Gone was the hate to be replaced by a lovely feeling of joie de vivre.

The little car had ensured that the bride wasn't the only one who said "i do" on the big day.

SPECIFICATION

Engine: 1.1 litre petrol
Max power: 66bhp
Max torque: 73lb/ft
Max speed: 94mph
0-60mph: 15.6 secs
Avg fuel consumption: 56.5mpg
Equipment (includes): Air conditioning; 14ins steel wheels; front electric windows; central locking; chrome radiator grille; driver and passenger front air bags; side air bags; integrated audio with RDS radio, CD, MP3, aux port and six speakers.