There’s a pleasing sense of rightness about almost every fitting, fixture and feature in the Microlino’s cockpit. Swing open its front end and you’re met by a bench seat that can happily host two adults of average width and height, with enough adjustability in the base to comfortably accommodate the longer-legged driver.
The lack of adjustment in the steering column is annoying, but the canted wheel makes for a much more car-like driving position than in the Citroën Ami, for example, and the seats are comfortable enough for a couple of hours of rushing around without a break.
Our test car had the premium interior, a £590 option that adds vegan upholstery and contrasting stitching that I would happily do without, and comes with a portable speaker that you can buy separately for £79. The neat elasticated bottle holder is standard fitment, as is the grab rail, onto which you can mount various ‘accessories’ – which basically just means a phone holder. You might feel short-changed by the lack of a dedicated central screen in a £20,000 car, but I find Apple CarPlay to be generally more intuitive and functional than the infotainment systems of most cars on sale, so this Dacia-esque solution essentially cuts out the middle man and reduces complexity.
There is a tiny, extremely basic touchscreen ahead of the dashboard, which allows you to adjust the fan speed, the demister and so on, and it works very well. As does the digital driver display, which clearly shows your speed, drive mode and state of charge – everything you need at a glance and nothing more.
Fit and finish is a bit more of a mixed bag. The main surfaces are trimmed in materials that are of a quality and durability that befits a premium product such as this, but the door panels are made of a flimsy-feeling and ill-fitting card-like material, and some of the physical controls – like the physical handbrake and rotary drive selector – feel a bit insubstantial, if not concerningly so.
At a surprisingly decent 230 litres, the boot is on a par with some of the smallest full-sized cars on sale, so more than sufficient for a couple of small suitcases and a hold-all – or why not get really into the Micro spirit with a couple of fold-out scooters? Plus, because there’s no pesky rear seat in the way, you can easily reach behind and grab your wallet out of your backpack when you park up.
Force of habit will have you reaching to the left for a non-existent handle when you come to get out, especially as the button to release the side-hinged front door is hidden somewhat counter-intuitively behind the grab rail – but I soon got used to it. Unlike in the original Isetta, the steering column is fixed to the floor, rather than the door, so you do have to thread yourself in a slightly undignified manner around it on entry, but the door is surprisingly manageable and electronically self-closes, so you don’t need to strain and wrestle with the leather pull strap in front of hordes of onlookers before you drive off.
