Following its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed a couple of weeks ago, the new two-cylinder Alfa Romeo MiTo TwinAir is now available to order in the British market. The MiTo is a popular hatchback in the UK, and so is the two-cylinder engine it has borrowed from the Fiat 500. Put these two together and you’ll have an instant hit. On a piece of paper at least.

With this car it’s the engine that defines its character. Built by Fiat, it’s the multi-award winning 85hp TwinAir engine – an 875cc twin-cylinder turbo powerplant with electro-hydraulic valve control technology that delivers outstanding fuel economy with sub-100g/km CO₂ emissions. They first put it in the 500 to create an ultra economical version of the car, but it turned out to be not so economical, but very good fun.

Inn the MiTo the engine has a targeted CO₂ output of just 98g/km and Combined Cycle fuel economy of 67.3mpg. The MiTo TwinAir range is available in a new metallic body colour – Ametista Black with a purple hue.

The car is available in two trim levels – Sprint and Distinctive – priced at £14,150 and £15,350 respectively.

tandard specification on the Sprint trim level includes 16-inch sports alloy wheels, cruise control, front fog lights, manual climate control, Alfa D.N.A. (driving mode selector) and Alfa’s Blue&Me™ system with Bluetooth^®– hands-free connectivity and USB media system. The Distinctive trim level also benefits from standard premium features including 17-inch sports alloy wheels, red painted Brembo brake calipers, rear parking sensors and chrome/aluminium detailing.

Whether or not the MiTo is as charming as the 500 TwinAir remains to be seen.