Taken together, these things mean the Insight has a dual personality. Yes, it is an economy special par excellence. But it can be driven for performance, not of the sub-7sec to 60mph variety but as quickly (say) as a 1.6-litre Civic ΂- and this despite the fact that its five-speed manual gearbox isn't as sweet as Honda's best, and that the gear ratios are spread wide beneath an ultra-high top (27mph/1000rpm!). As for maximum speed, the low-drag shape and the high gearing mean the Insight slips past 100mph, on its way to something close to 120mph, with deceptive ease unless the road begins to slope upwards.

Because it's an economy special, you're tempted to drive it that way unless you're in a hurry. The boost from the electric motor (fed from a special high-voltage energy-buffer battery beneath the high rear luggage platform) fills in the bottom end of the torque curve to provide remarkable flexibility. You need first gear from rest, zipping away with a three-cylinder noise which sounds remarkably like a tiny but rorty V6, but at 20mph you can slip into fifth and leave it there, and everything goes quiet. Now you can concentrate on the fuel consumption readouts, the 'instantaneous' strip display graduated up to 150mpg ΂- and it gets there quite often ΂- and the digital 'cumulative' display which can be switched between total and trip, and which updates once a minute. This is the display which tells the sad tale of the cold start: reset the trip on a crisp spring morning and even the Insight usually registers less than 20mpg over the first minute of operation. The second usually sees that jump to 60mpg-plus.

The electric motor either boosts performance or turns into a generator to recharge the traction battery (there's also a tiny 12V 'service battery'). A clever computer decides when it should do what, but basically it seems to be programmed never to allow the economy to drop below 50mpg when you're in fifth. An indicator 'dial' shows orange when the motor is boosting, green when it's recharging. Lean on the brakes at over 30mph and the dial shoots into the green as the motor/ generator turns kinetic energy into battery charge ΂- a worthwhile economy booster. Another trick is that the engine stops if you select neutral and have your foot on the brake when the car is doing less than around 5mph. It restarts, apparently instantly and noiselessly, when you select first. This may sound upsetting but it's never caused me a grey hair (or failed to work) in 7000 miles.

The tank holds 40 litres, or 8.8 gallons in the old real money, and would mean well over 500 miles between brims were it not for the typically (Honda) pessimistic fuel gauge; 32 litres is the most I have ever put in to rebrim. The absolute highest figure I've ever seen on the trip display after a run of any length? Given the time and patience to slipstream lorries on a motorway, I saw 118mpg once...
Yes, it's a Honda coup΃© so it handles remarkably well in a narrow-tyred kind of way. In the wet, you can even hang the tail out. Grip is adequate rather than astonishing; the electric power steering is dreadful, with very little natural straight-ahead stability. Look down to retune the radio and you can look up again to find you are a quarter-lane width from where you thought you were.

Did I like it? Yes, every time I filled up. No, every time I squeezed my considerable bulk into its low-slung cabin. No, every time I looked for a sensible stowage space in the cabin. Did anything go wrong with it? No, it was the ultimate little sewing machine, first time every time ΂- except for a punctured rear Bridgestone which proved what a pain those faired-in arches could be.

I can't tell you what it might be worth now. Only 200 Insights came to the UK, with a nominal price of ΂£17,000 ΂- a lot for a tiny coupe, but still less than it cost Honda to make. None has been resold thus far, and nobody will commit to a value, hence the lack of data in the header information.

What's its significance for evo readers? As a pointer to the future, maybe. As a concept, it works ΂- and works well. Now imagine a slightly bigger coupe, weighing maybe 50 per cent more, with twice as much engine and twice as much electric motor. Now you have a sub-9sec to 60mph machine which would probably still deliver 60mpg in normal driving. The Insight proves it's possible. Would you go for it? If petrol cost ΂£2 per litre, would you go for it? I would...