At first, the Fiat 500L looks like a caricature of its much smaller sibling – but it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with this beautiful car.

It’s not often you genuinely have bags of personality combined with family practicality, but add its cheeky Italian character into the mix and it won me over in no time.

It’s also a lot of fun to drive and, with more than 60 miles to the gallon, this compact MPV is very much on my Christmas list.

The Fiat 500L has three trim levels – Pop Star, Easy and Lounge – plus four engine options – 1.4-litre Fire petrol and the 875cc TwinAir Turbo, plus the 1.3 and 1.6-litre MultiJet 2 turbo diesels.

I drove the top-of-the-range 1.6-litre MultiJet turbo diesel, in which standard equipment includes cruise control, air conditioning and a height adjustable driver’s seat.

All models come with remote central locking, electrically adjustable door mirrors, a five-inch touchscreen radio and electric front windows.

The boot has 400 litres of space, and by using the Fold & Tumble function on the rear seat and folding the front seat down, an object that’s 2.4 metres long can be stowed on the flat load surface.

The Cargo Magic Space system allows the boot to be split into sections, and there are 22 compartments of differing sizes in the cabin, as well as multi-adjustable seats in the front and rear.

The UConnect touchscreen infotainment system allows you to connect media players and mobile phones that are controlled via voice, the steering wheel or touchscreen.

But here’s the really exciting bit – the Fiat 500L will become the first standard production car in the world to offer a proper espresso coffee machine fully integrated into the dashboard.

Yes, you heard correctly – a coffee machine. I actually think I’m shallow enough to buy it just on the strength of this.

Fiat has devised a unique deck that allows the coffee maker to be fitted into the passenger compartment. It then uses Lavazza’s A Modo Mio capsules to make authentic Italian espresso coffee. Fantastic.

Safety wise, it comes with six airbags, three-point safety belts on all five seats and double pretensioners and load limiters at the front.

The steering column is designed to collapse in a heavy impact to protect the driver and prevent the steering wheel being pushed upwards.

Owners can personalise their Fiat 500L, with more than 100 exclusive accessories to choose from.

Fact File:
Car: Fiat 500L 1.6
Price: from £14,155
Top speed: 112mph
0-62mph: 11.3 seconds
Fuel: 62.8mpg (combined)
CO2 emissions: 117g/km