Taking the roof off a car plays havoc with its handling, right? Depends. Not that this is likely to bother the average Fiat 500 buyer, 70 per cent of whom so far, according to Fiat’s research, have bought their retro-chic funabouts mainly for the looks. And that figure is unlikely to shrink with the arrival of the 500C, the openable-roof 500 whose foldable fabric strip apes that of the 1957 original.

This is one of the cheapest new rag-tops money can buy, and you can buy it here in sun-soaked GB before anywhere else, because we Brits like open cars so much. The £3K premium over the hatchback 500 buys you a top able to stop in various part-open positions or power electrically the whole way back. Roof open, draughts are low but the view aft is hopeless. Hence the optional parking sensors.

Curiously, the 500C steers and rides vastly better than a regular 500. It’s more akin to a 500 Abarth or the related Ford Ka. Softer springs and a rear anti-roll bar (the Ka tweaks) are why, and it makes this great-value convertible an unexpectedly admirable machine.