SOMETIMES, just sometimes the car becomes the star in a TV series and gets just as many laughs and sighs as the big names playing principal parts.

Such was the case with the Fiat 500L which was the transport of delight in the Peter Kay prime-time comedy Car Share in which Kay played John, a supermarket manager whose life became hilariously entangled with that of employee Kayleigh (Sian Foulkes) when they enlisted on a company car share scheme to get back and too from work.

The 500L was a clever choice because its light hearted road presence and sunny outlook blended well with the show.

Not long after the series I found myself at the wheel of a 500L and was amazed by the number of interested people wanting a look at it andthose with a wry sense of humour asking ‘Where's Kayleigh?' It created more of a stir than when I was let loose with Starsky and Hutch's Ford Torino.

A masterpiece of marketing I would say, but you can't let stardom cloud that fact that the 500L is one of the most capable examples of family transport around.

The 500 can be bought in a wide variety of models and the 500L is designed for customers who want a car that combines the 500's unique personality, style and image with added five-door practicality, capability and size.

The Fiat 500L mixes user-friendly technology with eco-friendliness and plenty of space, all wrapped up in a characterful package.

By expanding on its concept of 'space efficiency', Fiat has developed the new 500L, combining practicality and internal flexibility to produce a distinctive and versatile vehicle, while incorporating the spirit and attitude of the 500.

The 'cab forward' design means the 500L can easily accommodate five passengers with the added bonus of having the space for their luggage. Driving the 500L it is sometimes hard to imagine that this people swallower is related at all to the little retro fashionista that is the pure 500.

There is a lot of glass in this model and it includes windscreen pillars that have been divided and tapered to improve visibility and increase the car's strength in case of a collision. A knock-on effect is that the Fiat 500L has already been given a five-star car crash safety rating by Euro NCAP.

Fiat claims it is the most space-efficient passenger car in relation to its size and has best passenger volume index, the biggest touchscreen radio and the largest glass roof on sale.

As would be expected from Fiat there is an enormous range of options specifically designed to make life with the 500L better

In short, the 500L has a passion for life, boosted by its 1.6 four-cylinder MultiJet diesel which turns out 120bhp.

On the road it is an enjoyable drive with some impressive handling credits. It certainly seems to hate filling stations with 61.4mpg attainable and CO2 emissions are an impressive 120 g/km.

But the big surprise is in the cabin because there lurks an optional and very Italian touch.