Five of the best: city cars for under £4,000

As the streets get more crowded and the sky dirtier, small cars get more popular. Here are the top five city dwellers for those not on City bonus money. SMMT sales figures for September 2009 have shown a general shift towards smaller, more efficient cars. That's no surprise given we're all more eco-aware these days, but it's also an indication that city cars are getting better and better, cramming more space into smaller shells than ever; some of them aren't far short of packaging miracles.

It used to be the case that the city car was the choice for those who secretly wanted something bigger. Now, small is the new big - and that's great because smaller means more affordable. So, we've set ourselves a £4,000 budget and gone about finding the best proper city cars we can find. Cars that you won't be ashamed to rock up to the golf course in, or whatever other cliché you can think of that represents big cars and old money.