It was also a bit of a star on the evo fast fleet. As you can imagine, with such an enviable stream of powerful machinery passing through our hands, the MR2 often found itself outgunned by the contents of our car park. But inevitably when you took the Toyota's keys and headed home you felt ashamed for having doubted its vibrant character and infectious enthusiasm for corners.

It may sound obvious, but long-term tests really highlight the difference between driving a car and living with one. While we already knew the MR2 was a committed driver's car, rising above any unfortunate stigma that the previous model may have bestowed upon it, we also knew that the instant appeal of sports cars like the MR2 (and Elise and VX220 for that matter) can wane when you have to rely on them 24-7.

X224 YDY arrived on 24 January 2001. Not the ideal time to forge a partnership with a car so clearly designed for summer days, but I soon warmed to it. Though hardly loaded with creature comforts, it possessed most essential must-haves: a glass, heated rear screen and powerful air-conditioning system, simple and speedy manual roof mechanism and a half-decent stereo.

Consequently the MR2 was soon habitable and ready to drive, even on the frostiest of mornings.

One thing magazine tests (and prospective owners) always comment on is the MR2's almost total lack of luggage space. While I'd like to say it doesn't matter, to be honest it did prove to be its major Achilles' heel. Although the cubby lockers behind the seats were capacious enough to carry a decent-sized weekly food shop, they were a pain to use. Imagine a wet Friday night in your local Sainsbury's car park, trolley laden with plastic bags. Now imagine having to unload your trolley, stand the bags neatly by the side of the car, open both the doors, slide both seats forward, and then stuff the bags in as best you can. If travelling solo, I always chose to fill the passenger footwell instead, but predictably by the time I got home every bag was upside down, the interior suddenly resembling the aftermath of an explosion in a greengrocer's.

Still, as sacrifices go, the odd bruised apple was a price worth paying because the MR2 was a real livewire to drive. At comfortably under 1000kg, unsurprisingly it felt really alert and keen. The chassis was never less than pin-sharp, with absolutely no understeer whatsoever, finely throttle-adjustable balance and ultra-responsive steering that shamed many sports cars costing two or three times as much.

Of course this did mean the MR2 needed quick wits and quick hands, as evo art editor Damian Smith discovered when making a rapid exit from the car park at his local gym. Still, as a number of you subsequently confessed, Smith is not alone in having spun an MR2. In a masochistic kind of a way it was one of the things we liked about the Toyota; the fact that if you were going to drive it quickly you needed your wits about you.

That lack of weight always helped the zingy four-cylinder engine's 138bhp feel more effective than you'd expect. It also resulted in some truly smile-inducing fuel economy. How does 33mpg sound?

Predictably, reliability was typically Japanese. The MR2 never missed a beat during 19,095 miles of very hard use, including at least two group tests in which it successfully defended Toyota's honour. Build quality also proved to be robust, despite the MR2's lightweight frame, and the paintwork, and leather seats scrubbed up a treat.

The only blots on an otherwise unblemished copy-book were corrosion under the lacquer of the alloys and the easily scuffable interior plastics, especially the glovebox lid which bore the brunt of drivers hefting the aforementioned food bags and sundry other pieces of cargo off the front seat.

Running costs were pleasingly minimal, the most significant being ΂£380 for a new set of tyres shortly before we reluctantly returned the MR2 to Toyota. The 10,000-mile service intervals meant we paid only ΂£85 to keep the oil fresh and the service book stamped. For more than 19,000 miles of memorable motoring that seems a very small price to pay.