THE humble Renault Clio has always been an ever-present part of my life.
My mum had a few mark twos when I was a kid and in my teenage years my dad bought a then-new Clio 182 Trophy - a car I loved and even owned for four happy years when insurance allowed.
Fast-forward a decade and having been Clio-less for a while and having stupidly opted against buying a phase one Clio V6 when they were hovering around the £10,000 mark, last year I bought a 220 Trophy - far removed from the halcyon days of the 172/182 Renaultsport crop given it’s turbocharged and semi-automatic but a beguiling, interesting and entertaining hot hatch nevertheless.
Cast your mind back to the early to mid-noughties and Clios were ten-a-penny things, but strangely they don’t seem to be anywhere near as common nowadays as they were then. A key reason for this has been multiple versions of the Ford Fiesta being snapped up by the British public, but given Ford’s done the unfathomable and axed its supermini, the Clio could well emerge from the depths.
Given I’ve always been a fan of their Gaelic charm, I took delivery of a 1.0-litre model with much enthusiasm. Despite this automatic ‘Esprit Alpine’ edition having a mere 90bhp (there’s also a 1.6 hybrid with 143bhp), its spec sheet is really rather exceptional. Sure, it’s never going to be a comparison to the now-ditched Renaultsport Clio line, but the Alpine touches look great, both inside and out.
We’ll start outside: sporty, unquestionably a Clio, handsome and thoroughly modern. Open the door and you’ll be greeted by a lovely pair of Alpine-badged, heavily bolstered seats. Ahead is a typical, iPad-style infotainment system, upholstery on the dash which helps boost its premium appeal and the French ‘tricolore’ as seen on every great Alpine sports car. It feels lovely; a huge step up on my 2018 220 Trophy, for example.
Start it up and the small engine - as they all do - is more charismatic than it has any right to be. It’s not going to win any speed contests - 60mph comes up in just over 12 seconds after all - but what it is is economical and cheap to run.
It’s quite softly sprung, the Esprit Alpine, so whereas points are dropped as a result on twisty roads where the Clio once dazzled motoring journalists, on motorways it’s judged to utter perfection.
The new version is just the same likeable little hatchback we’re used to, but now it has a bit more tech and an updated exterior, not to mention way sportier touches in this guise. For a smidge over £20,000, it’s pretty damn good.
The Fiesta’s demise may well be the Clio’s rebirth - here’s hoping.
