1998 Fiat Coupe 20 Valve Turbo review from UK and Ireland

Nothing went wrong. I serviced it regularly. Kept it topped up with oil. Took care of it and it took care of me. Most reliable car I'd ever owned.

I bought my old 1998 20VT in 2007 for a measly sum considering the car and its 38000 accumulated miles since birth.

It was a broom yellow model. I hadn't originally prepared myself for a yellow car, but Fiat's brew for its broom yellow is something else. Generally one of the finest yellows out there. It just looked right and it suited the car down to a tee. It's a sports car... in my opinion, only red, yellow and black are the necessary qualifying colours for such cars. They're loud... let them be loud.

It had a full service history, meticulously kept by its previous owner.

I fell in love with this the moment I sat inside and saw the flash of yellow panel across the black dash and into both doors. The car's interior is a masterpiece in minimalist perfection. The dials are recessed into a sporty but simple instrument binnacle, which just includes a rev counter, speedo, fuel gauge, with oil and temp nearby. All you need.

I had the added luxuries of air conditioning and a 6-CD changer. Otherwise, the interior's black leather, the simple instrumentation and the roar of that 5 cylinder turbo were my principal forms of entertainment for just over a year.

The front seat was padded and bolstered laterally, giving good support during fast cornering. The manual gearbox is a good match for the engine... Fiat's engineers really outdid themselves, coz this car is so obviously a piece of lovingly crafted automotive heaven in a world of unnecessarily expensive mundanity.

The rear seats are surprisingly inviting and generous in their proportions. It's definitely a place you can place two adults (6ft max) for moderate journeys. It swallows children and they love being there. It feels very cocooning in the back because of the steep rake in the haunches of the car, which places the rear side window (not openable) quite high up.

The interior materials all felt of relatively good quality. Nothing creaked or shook annoyingly. Everything was nicely put together. Tightly.

The steering wheel was meaty and satisfying to hand, giving plenty of feedback on all surfaces. You really felt connected with the road via the car. I've never felt so close to the experience.

This is, I feel, as good as it gets outside of Porsche or Ferrari territory. Better than BMW.

And then that exterior... what can one say?.. I really believe this is a true design classic. Even though it has Pininfarina badges on the side panels, the exterior was penned by Chris Bangle (he who took BMW to la la land) when he was at Fiat Centro Stile. It's a looker. It still looks sharp, more than 16 years after it was first released in this country. The slashes down the sides, the double bubble headlights, the two circular, Ferrari-like sets of rear lights... I still fawn whenever I see one (only occasionally) on the roads. It is a sports car in every way. It looks so fast... and it has the speed to match the looks.

0-60 in 6.3 seconds... 220 BHP, 330NM of torque... turbo kicks in at just over 3000rpm... and the thing pulls like a train all the way past 150mph... I think I've hit 152mph... with a good set of tyres... and a decent stretch of road... you'll be shocked by what this thing can do. It even likes corners! And that's saying something considering it's a 2WD fronter.

And you know what... it even has a decent boot... good enough for a long weekend away... if there are only two of you... you could easily take it across Europe... there's a ski hatch for those longer items.

Mine had a decent alarm and immobiliser. The sound isn't bad, but you'd be best to replace those speakers with better ones and a good amp to get a bit more of a natural sound.

This car is in the details... things like that wraparound strip of body colour inside the car across the dash, or the chromed fuel filler cap... a work of art..

This is the simplicity of a sports car that allows you to appreciate it when you're not concentrating fully on the road ahead while you gun the thing to awesome speeds with brutal acceleration.

Mine was destroyed in an accident in which I played no part. I wasn't even in the country. I didn't decide to go back to another one because I was so taken by mine that I felt it inappropriate to replace what I considered, and still consider to be the finest car I have ever owned. It has everything. And it's ridiculously cheap, even low mileage versions with one or two owners.

Nothing ever went wrong. I simply kept it topped up with oil and serviced it regularly. I don't believe I was lucky. You need to pay to keep this thing ship shape. I'm not saying its totally cheap. Maintenance can be expensive with group 19 insurance and cam belts every 36000 miles, plus maybe changing the exhaust manifold prophylactically.

But every penny will melt into distant memory the moment you switch the ignition, warm it up and say in your mind, " Warp speed, Mr. Scott"...

it's intoxicatingly addictive!