VW Eos: Volkswagen would clearly like us to believe this is the start of a new age for the company - hence the decision to name the car after the Greek goddess of dawn.
With a raft of new models due out in the next two years, VW bosses are hoping this new hard-topped convertible will win favour not only for styling and functionality but also for build quality and reliability. Time will tell.
For now we can admire the car's nice lines and the funky folding roof.
On these balmy summer days you have to admire the folding metal of modern motoring.
Forget about turbochargers or even four-wheel-drive; as temperatures soared and campers fried eggs on the bonnets of their family saloons, the convertible metal roof was a winner in any straw-poll of overheated motorists.
It's the greatest advance in motoring technology since someone decided to cut a small hole in the roof to let the sun in.
That particualr sunroof generation were stars of the 1970s and despite advances in air-conditioning, it's still a firm favourite for some motorists today. It's not about letting in cold fresh air, but rather the pleasure of a few rays of sun warming the back of your neck during the journey.
Of course, the real motoring treat on a summer's day has long been the convertible. But the idea of winding closed the sunroof on the first sign of a shower was far more tempting than pulling to a halt and taking part in the sado-masochistic folding manoeuvres that was part and parcel of the convertible lifestyle.
You could tell the convertible owner from the rest not only by their golden tan, but also their bloodied fingers and bruised hands. They also possessed a choice vocabulary, developed over long periods of desperately trying to shorten the time between downpour and a covered car.
Then came the modern folding metal roof that gave you not only a fully-fledged convertible but also a proper hard-topped coupé.
We can be blasé about it now, given the wide variety of makes now offering these multi-purpose sports versions.
Yet, this new Eos offers a little bit more. Not a lot, just a little.
It's not the dawn of a new age of motoring as the name might suggest, but as in politics and life, once the revolution ends then it's the little things in life that attract the most attention. So the fact that it features an electric sunroof built into its five-piece folding metal is the big news.
The five folds in the roof are also a bit of an innovation, given that the rear end no longer has to be the size of a helicopter landing pad to house the folded metal. It does mean boot space is at a premium, but really that's what the rear seats are for.
With the roof down there is only the slightest opening to load or remove luggage, and if you are unlucky enough to have stored anything bigger than a lightweight laptop in the covered hold then the roof will have to go up - at least a little - to get it out.
Rear-seat legroom is only designed for small children, and as a result we mostly used it as our storage bay.
The downside is that items tend to lie about unsecure, and it's not the safest way to carry goods through town. In short, when travelling with the roof down, don't lug too much with you.
In terms of aesthetics, when covered the Eos looks a little lumpy in the middle: not quite the sleek look of a coupé you'd expect. Then again, none of its competitors manage to pull off truly slick coupé lines either.
With the top cast off, though, the lines start to cohere and the Eos becomes as cute and sporting as any convertible.
One of the most positive features of the Eos was the driving dynamics.
Our test car was the 2-litre turbo version and it proved a real pleasure to drive, though it does fight for traction and the little yellow light on the dash spend a good deal of time flickering away. Perhaps the greatest attribute is the smooth well-weighted steering and precise gearbox with a relatively short throw.
The Eos is rivalled only by the Opel Astra Twintop for driving pleasure, and both have the beating of their French counterparts.
These impressive driving characteristics belied the true weight of the car we were lugging around - 2,000kg in total.
That was largely down to the 200bhp on offer and while the weight admittedly drops 70kg when you opt for the entry-level engine, the 1.6-litre pushes out 115bhp.
That doesn't seem enough to really threaten some of its rivals, such as the entry-level Opel Astra Twintop or even the Renault Megane. With a starting price of €36,880, it's also €2,000 more expensive than the well-equipped Renault, and a whopping €6,395 more than the equivalent entry-level Astra Twintop.
Arguably it does have the VW badge on the front nose, and that means a stronger resale value than most of its competitors. While it may be difficult to justify these days, the fact is that VW still manages to pull in a better residual price than the rest.
That's what VW is keen to preserve, particularly as it's in the throes of a major product offensive.
Next up will be a new Scirocco, probably more tempting to the sportier motorist than the Eos. After that there will be a Passat-sized coupé with the difference of having four doors - similar to the Mercedes CLS. Then more derivatives will show, including the Golf SUV, a Polo cabriolet and finally a replacement for the current Golf.
As for the Eos, the 1.6-litre is probably too sluggish to entertain anyone except the town cruiser, but aside from engine sizes the big issue remains price and for that I think the Opel has the beating of its fellow German this time.
