I'd prepared for the worst. Here was a car that would be a chihuaha amongst rottweilers in the traffic. It would need to be driven with its tail between its legs lest it be chewed and spat out in the angry melee of Johannesburg's rush hour.
So I was surprised to discover the one-litre Chevrolet Spark was not going to let itself be bullied. The Korean-built midget scooted about town with the agility of Pacman rather than crawling timidly through the gridlock, making up in heart what it lacked in size.
That four-cylinder 995cc engine, introduced last year alongside the weaker 800cc three-cylinder Spark to add some, er spark to the range, has a remarkably responsive and easy-revving nature.
I had lots of fun darting through traffic and stealing gaps I'd never have tried in a larger, more powerful car. It's small and light and genuinely fun to drive, and the only thing that will fit into smaller parking spaces is a motorcycle or a Smart ForTwo.
The Daewoo Matiz was rebadged as the Chevrolet Spark late in 2003 when General Motors took over the bankrupt Korean firm and last year a second-generation Spark was launched, featuring a new design and a lower price.
The engine that powers the Spark LS tested here delivers a claimed 46.5kW at 5400rpm and 87.3Nm at 4200rpm and GM South Africa says it will reach 100km/h in 14.1sec at sea level, while service intervals are 15 000km.
The baby Chevy will cope with freeways, although it's primarily a city car. Its top speed of 146km/h is more than enough to set off greed traps and downhill with a tailwind you'll see even more on the speedo.
More importantly, it'll to maintain 120km/h uphill carrying four people with the aircon running. You can't really expect any more than that from a sub-R80 000 midget hatch.
The downside to all this is that the Spark is a buzzy, frantic little car that makes a great deal of noise in the execution of these giant-killing tasks.
The wind and the engine compete with great vigour as to which will be loudest, and the audio system's volume button is likely to be the first item in this car to wear out.
But the baby Chev wins points back for its moderate thirst, which probably counts higher than refinement to the generally young and impecunious buyers it's aimed at.
Light gearshift
Our test car averaged 6.5 litres per 100km, giving it a decent 500km-plus range on the tiny 35-litre fuel tank , and it would probably have done even better had we not driven the little car so hard.
The clutch and gearshift are light, although reverse gear is sometimes hard to engage, especially when the car's cold.
The glaring omission from this car is power steering and even in such a midget the steering effort is too heavy and too vague. Little old ladies with thin arms will struggle.
The Spark One-litre LS sells for R76 140 and comes with comforts such as key-operated central locking, alloy wheels and electric front windows, but price-per-feature it doesn't stack up well against a cheaper rival like the R69 900 Hyundai Atoz 1.1 which in addition to these items also has power steering.
Tinny feel
As befits its class the Spark has a tinny feel that lacks the solidity of pricier rivals such as the Hyundai Getz, but it avoids feeling cheap and nasty.
There's hard plastic in the cabin instead of the richer-feeling soft-touch type, but it's neatly finished and seems reasonably robust.
Interior styling is trendy and should go down well with the younger set. The instrument panel is in the fashionable centre of the fascia, not in front of the driver.
There's no obvious benefit to this unless you want rear-seat passengers to see the speedo and be impressed with the velocity the car's capable of.
There's no ABS and the driver is the only one to get a crash bag, so the Spark didn't do very well in EuroNCAP crash tests, recording one of the lowest scores of the superminis tested.
The super-light car goes around bends with respectable agility, although that heavy, numb steering is hard work and doesn't invite overly-enthusiastic cornering.
Directional stability
For a small car the ride's pretty reasonable, and even over rougher roads it doesn't become too choppy. The plus side of that vague steering is that the car maintains decent directional stability and isn't unnervingly twitchy in strong crosswinds.
The front disc/rear drum brakes are pretty sharp and the car will stop in a hurry if you don't lock the wheels, although the brakes judder under hard stopping.
If you want your Spark with ABS brakes and power steering, you'll have to pay R84 540 for the top-of-the-range LT model.
This ain't no family car but you can squeeze a couple of passengers into the back seat without amputation being required.
Adequate ceiling
A 1.8m tall adult can sit behind a driver of similar height and have their knees firmly touching - but not uncomfortably squeezed up against - the front seats, and the ceiling's adequately high.
Oddments space inside the cabin is reasonable, including cupholders, a cubbyhole, door pockets, and open trays under the cubby and steering wheel.
The boot's tiny at 170 litres, but expands to a useful 845 litres with the rear seats folded. A trailer for your luggage is not an option - there's a bright yellow sticker in the Spark's boot that warns: "This vehicle is not authorised for towing purposes".
Summary
Chevvy's 1-litre Spark is a competent, fun-to-drive, city car with cute looks, good fuel economy and more pace than you'd expect. It's affordable too, if not the best rand-per-feature buy in its league.