LIKE all motoring legends, the Volkswagen Beetle has always tended to polarise opinions.
In its heyday, this was either an adorable Bug on which you bestowed a pet name, or a symbol of postwar utilitarianism you detested for its sluggishness and discomfort.
Re-inventing the Beetle for the 21st century may have been a triumph of brand marketing, but the new car is probably every bit as divisive as the original.
In the blue corner are those overjoyed at seeing the familiar silhouette reinterpreted for a new generation and given all the sophisticated technological touches the original lacked.
In the red corner are the cynics unable to comprehend why anyone would be prepared to pay such a high price and suffer such a small boot for the sake of retro chic.
Pricewise, the cynics have a point when it comes to the cabriolet. Because whereas the humblest entry-level New Beetle will set you back less than £12,000, the flagship open-top version - decked out with all those natty extras which help it to look the part - soon becomes a £20,000-plus proposition.
Yes, the 17-inch alloy wheels with their anti-theft wheel bolts look smart, but so they should for £870. And yes, the leather seats are great, but anyone wanting to add them to the 1.8T will have to stump out £1,588 for the privilege.
But converts will point out what a fantastically stylish-looking car this is, taking its retro cues from a model which started rolling off the production line more than half a century ago.
You can't argue with hard facts and VW reckons it's got a pretty solid track record in producing open-top cars that people fall in love with, given that some 330,000 Beetle cabrios hit the road during its 30-year lifespan, only to be replaced in people's affections by the Golf cabrio, which has sold 648,000 worldwide.
It's no good pointing out that you can hardly fit the shopping in the boot, never mind any luggage. Cramped rear-seat passengers can gripe about their narrow bench and meteorological anoraks can point out the number of sunny days a year you might get in Britain to actually enjoy your purchase.
But the fact remains that on a glorious summer's day, when the New Beetle sweeps into the sunlight like a boisterous labrador puppy, it's time to forget your inhibitions and put the hood - and your foot - down.
The power plant is a delight, as Bora, Passat and Sharan owners can testify, the subtle and responsive 20-valve turbo giving you excellent pulling power from low revs yet still boasting the sort of top-end pick-up you expect from high-performance petrol cars.
It's far from being the most frugal way of getting from A to B - combined fuel economy is 34mpg and under urban conditions this drops to 25mpg - less if you like the whisper of that turbo.
But those who want to stand out from the crowd may not mind adding that small penalty to the list of potential drawbacks.
In design terms, the cabrio is perhaps the most impressive of the New Beetle incarnations because it is so eye-catching.
It's still got that adorable bug-like "face", muscular bulges over the wheels and that unforgettable bonnet, enhanced by colour-coded bumpers, mirrors and handles.
Any safety concerns that may have dogged the post-war convertible have been banished by an intriguing roll-over protection system and a formidable list of abbreviations indicating that anti-lock brakes, electronic stabilisation and traction control are all fitted as standard.
The roll-over solution is ingenious and hidden from view. But intelligent sensors detect the possiibility of a rollover or impact and shoot up supports behind the rear seat belts to complement the protection offered by the specially reinforced front windscreen frame.
The car feels solid all round and although the frameless windows wiggle when you pull the doors open, the fully galvanised body is covered by a 12-year warranty and all the switchgear smacks of quality.
Every effort has been made to eliminate steering vibration and scuttle shake, and the overall impression is of a rigid chassis well equipped for most road conditions but not a star performer over obtrusive road humps.
Despite the yawning expanse of the new dashboard in front of you, storage isn't one of the car's selling points. What compartments there are tend to be either too small or, like the glovebox and boot, too awkwardly shaped.
Visibility can be another bugbear, especially with the hood up, and Beetle owners will probably find the car harder to park than its size warrants, given the way the front and rear ends are hidden from view too.
Converts won't hear a bad word against it, of course. They'll tell you about the heat-insulating tinted glass, VW's now-familiar night-time array of blue-lit gauges and warm red switches - and, of course, will always keep a fresh flower proudly displayed in the quirky plastic vase behind the steering wheel.
Killjoys will be raising quizzical eyebrows about the hood, though. True, it's electrically operated and takes 13 seconds to concertina behind the rear seats, but it's still textile rather than metal - and why doesn't it fold away from view?
To be fair, the multi-layered textile design offers more noise and wind insulation than you might expect when it's up, and is fitted with a heated glass rear screen.
It's designed to be very durable and those nice people at VW even give you a tailored hood cover matched to the upholstery for you to slip over it when it's folded back. Clever stuff.
Well, you can huff and puff about such small things, but Beetle owners won't let it fluster them. This is, after all, one of those cars people just fall in love with and, as they say, love is blind.
It's clever, it's classy, it's chic and it's fun. It's also pricey and impractical in some respects, but that's never stopped cabrios selling like hot cakes here, despite the absence of any predictability in the weather.
And some 50,000 a year are now rolling off the production lines in Mexico, giving a pretty clear indication that our love affair with a legend is far from dead.
FAST FACTS
VW New Beetle Cabriolet 1.8T
Price: £18,815
Mechanical: 150bhp, 1,781cc, 4cyl petrol engine driving front wheels via 5spd manual gearbox
Max speed: 125mph
0-62mph: 9.3 secs
Combined mpg: 34
Insurance group: 15
CO2 emissions: 199g/km
BiK rating: 25%
Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles; 3yrs paint; 12yrs anti-rust