It’s easy to be dismissive of coupes. After all, any car that has humble origins yet places look-at-me style uppermost in its list of priorities runs the risk of being branded vacuous and superficial, at least by keen drivers. Call it Victoria Beckham Syndrome.

Truth be told, when I got the call from evo HQ and was handed this assignment, I could feel those dismissive thoughts flash through my mind. I mean, Monkey Harris gets the plum MP4-12C gig while I get a trio of tarts’ handbags to mince around in. A less magnanimous man than I might feel affronted.

But after two days driving my favourite roads, some surprising straight-line performance benchmarking at the Millbrook Proving Ground and a bit of hoonage at the Bedford Autodrome, I’ll be forced to reconsider those early feelings of disappointment, for this will prove to be a thoroughly enjoyable test.