Funky to frumpy

Well-known American humorist and author of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, once said, "golf is a good walk spoiled".

Now I know that I'll never earn anywhere near the same amount of professional infamy as this esteemed novelist but today I'd like to lay down a similar quote and that is, "a boot is a great hatchback ruined".

Yes, perhaps I'm being overly harsh, but the fact is Ford's new four-door Fiesta has turned a swan into a dodo.

Both the three and five-door versions are two of the most attractive small hatches on the market today, so lumping their same basic silhouettes with this great big eyesore of a metal trunk seems to be a design injustice.

Not only does it make the poor old Fiesta look like some dreary hire car but those already diminutive 15-inch alloy wheels now seem ridiculously small. And all of this for an extra 146-litres of stowing space?

Fortunately, once you slip into the cabin and twist that 1.6 Duratec engine to life, your initial feelings of disgust more or less fade away as this Fiesta four-door still offers much the same great driving experience.

With virtually no understeer to speak of, it darts through corners with a crispness you'll struggle to find in cars double the price.

The electrically-assisted power steering, though on the light side, is suitably direct and telegraphs just enough road information to keep your inner Stig satisfied. Unfortunately, equipped with a naturally aspirated engine and Powershift gearbox, this four-door ain't no ball of fire in a straight line.

Nope, benefitting from a cushy ride and some nicely weighted controls, the Fiesta is at its happiest cruising leisurely from point A to point B.

So yes, from a driving and value proposition I found this Ford to be a very appealing package, but every time I got out and walked past that swollen rump, well, I just felt my face wrinkling up in disapproval.

I understand the relevance of the boot but in my mind it has no business on the back of the otherwise funky Fiesta. So please, do yourself a favour and get the hatchback instead.