Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive

Citroen's urban mobility object' is classed as a light quadricyle and can be driven without a full licence

The vehicle is cheap and the reactions from the pavement are a bonus, from the disbelieving double-take or uncontrolled giggle to the frankly envious where-do-I-get-one-of-those (plus the odd pitying stare, but then this is Paris).

At first glance, Citroen's new Ami, a playful polypropylene cube on wheels with an unashamedly Toytown aesthetic, seems hardly the kind of car to excite the passions of France's drivers. But, perhaps because it is not a car, that is just what it is doing.