Still, Berrin from Smart Chiswick kept me well informed and even saved me from making a disastrous colour choice when the metallic grey I originally chose from the brochure turned out to be a sickly light green in the plastic. The colour I swapped to, Champagne Remix, is the same hue as my Cappuccino and has similar dirt-hiding abilities, essential when used daily in The Smoke.

Options included the Sports Pack, which bundles the funky 16in three-spoke alloys with a leather-clad three-spoke steering wheel fitted with paddles to control the automated gearshift, and the Leather Pack - tasteful dark grey leather and heated sports seats. I also ordered the optional electric soft top.

Initial impressions are that the gearshift isn't as bad as early reviews suggested, even the fully automatic mode being acceptably smooth around town. Could Smart have upgraded the gearshift software after that early roasting?

My only complaint about the 'box is that the lever between the seats works 'backwards' compared with racing convention, upshifts requiring a forward nudge, so I tend to use only full auto or the paddles. The otherwise excellent power-steering is a tad under-geared for town use, requiring 3.5 turns lock-to-lock and therefore puts the paddles into confusing positions whilst cornering.

Of course, it wouldn't be a proper Yu-mobile without some judicious power and ICE upgrades, so plans are already afoot...