This sort of thing doesn't happen very often. Aston Martin had contacted me to ask if I'd mind reviewing their Vantage Convertible and I didn't mind at all, in fact I was what you might call 'fairly enthusiastic' about the whole thing. The Vantage Coupe has been around for a couple of years now and is the smaller of the two sports cars built in Britain by Aston Martin. Quaintly tagged the 'Baby Aston', it was an immediate success, everyone loved it. Under the leadership of Dr Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin became a success story in itself; retaining and enhancing the brand, increasing production by a factor of ten and building better cars than ever. Aston achieved the UK's Coolest Brand award last year and for obvious reasons, it's synonymous with some very cool things: beautiful sports cars, wealth, good taste and James Bond. The Convertible version was launched earlier this year, adding another desirable facet to the Vantage jewel.

I had the Vantage for four days, it arrived on a Friday and I had to give it back on the following Tuesday and was delivered by a friendly man from a super-car logistics company, on the back of an unmarked curtain-sided lorry.

Performance is better than I could have imagined, road-holding under dynamic driving is impeccable. Straight-line acceleration is incredible; flooring the throttle will hurl the car from 0-60 in under 5 seconds, during which a dramatic soundtrack signifies that you are covering a staggering amount of ground very quickly indeed. Road-holding is amazing; the Vantage will corner superbly and accelerate out of a tight apex like some sort of angry roaring greyhound. Driver communication and feedback from the car are truly amazing - the car does everything you ask it to, enhancing your skills to make you look like a superstar. January in this part of the world is hardly open-top car sort of weather but I made sure I wrapped up well to experience it and opened the slick electrically retracting soft top. It was exhilarating but brief, mainly due to the unhelpful climate.

The Vantage is a phenomenal car; an object of beauty, a true super-car and a modern icon with the sort of heritage that very few manufacturers can match. This car has all the desirable qualities associated with super-car status and still manages to be well-mannered and easy to drive. People love to look at an Aston Martin; in traffic they will stare shamelessly from adjacent cars, then smile when you catch their eye and gather in small curious crowds when you park. On one occasion I returned to the Baby Aston to find a young family admiring it, the small boy asked where I got it and my enigmatic response was "It fell off the back of a lorry".