MOTORING: Rover supermini crashes to bottom of car survey

The reputation of the Rover 100, shown in Department of Transport tests to be the least safe of the superminis, suffered another dent yesterday when it was voted bottom of its class and described as "old and sad in every way". The damning verdict was given in a national survey by BBC Top Gear magazine, which placed the VW Polo top of its category.

There was more bad news for Rover in the coupe class, where the Rover 800 came bottom and was considered "cramped, dated and ugly". The "striking looks" of the Fiat Coupe took it to the top of this category. Top family car was the Fiat Bravo/Brava, while bottom was the Lada Riva. The Ford Mondeo - "simply a good car to drive" - topped the medium car range, with the Daewoo Espero bottom.