URBAN Foxes have had some bad press of late.

Justifiably so, given what happened. But one bad apple shouldn't spoil the whole bunch.

With that in mind we present VW's namesake.

Like the vulpes genus found on the streets of our towns and cities, the Fox is a cunning little thing, with the ability to appear and disappear in a flash.

It lacks some of our furry friend's character, however, and on the open road it can find itself a little exposed.

The baby of VW's fleet, the Brazilian-built Fox comes with either a 1.2 litre or 1.4 litre petrol engine.

Ours came with the latter, but there's little to choose between the two to be fair.

In town it has plenty of spirit and thanks to a nice little gearbox, it belies its less than fleet-footed looks.

While this may be a bargain VW, relatively speaking, there's nothing low rent about its driving manners.

For a little over £9,000, in the case of our test car, you get all the benefits of much more expensive vehicles from the same marque, but for far less outlay.

It handles the bumps well, corners without pitching the driver into the window and is easy to manoeuvre thanks to its light steering.

While it's at home in the town, the Fox is, as you might expect, less keen when the speed limit is increased to 70mph.

Road and wind noise become intrusive and, in my car, there was an annoying rattle that reared its head as the speedometer rose.

As far as frugality goes, the Fox returns 32.5mpg around town and 50.4mpg on the open road, not the best, but not the worst either.

To look at, while it's maybe not as funky as some of its rivals, it's far from ugly.

Our car came in bright yellow, or sunshine as VW prefers to call it, and was complemented, if that's the right word, by an interior colour scheme that is akin to what you might find adorning deckchairs on Brighton seafront.

Those wild stripes are not the only thing you will notice when you get inside. Whereas you can step blindfolded into every other VW and know immediately what car you are in, the Fox doesn't have that same familiarity.

The smell, the feel and the fit are completely different, but perhaps that's only to be expected. The dash, for example, is decidedly cheaper looking than any of its brethren, but is nonetheless clear in its construction and performs the job it is designed to do.

While it may be a three-door, VW has thought about how that might compromise access, giving the Fox large doors that, when allied to the sliding front seats, enable you and your children to get in and out without too much hardship.

Theres room for four, the centre of the rear seat given over to a carrying area for drinks and like and thanks to that, its high roofline and plenty of girth it is possible for all to sit in relative comfort. A sliding rear seat came as standard on our car, however, lesser versions have to make do without.

The boot, while not capacious, is in keeping with the rest of the car and is well shaped, making loading up easy.

Like the creature it is named after, the Fox has its shortcomings and it wont appeal to everyone, but if you're prepared to play to its strengths it's worth hunting down.