Instead, he keeps his gaze steadfastly downcast, as if perusing the marble floor for a portal, a way out should he suddenly require one. Ray LaMontagne comes walking into the hotel lobby here in Portland, Maine, at a little time after the appointed hour. Only 10,000 were made, perhaps because it was slower than the Beetle it shared an engine with - and of those, less than a handful live in the UK.. The SP-1 and SP-2 were the Ford Capris of South America - cool, fast-back coup? usually with go-faster stripes down the side and after-market spoilers. The Beetle was, thus, the first "world car", as ubiquitous on the streets of Mexico City as it was in Manchester. But in the 1970s a little-known VW with Beetle underpinnings was also built in Brazil. They even sent Beetle kits from Brazil to Nigeria, where "Nigerian" Beetles were then built.

Beetle production began in Brazil in 1978 and continued until 1988, before starting again due to public demand in 1993 There were very few changes from the German-built model. It's a classic: VW SP-1 and SP-2 Volkswagen's Brazilian connection is nothing new; until 1996 Beetles were built there in a plant outside Sao Paulo in huge numbers and sold throughout South America. Me, I'd either save money and buy a Panda, or save up and buy a Suzuki Swift. Cars such as the Aygo and Panda do much of this kind of thing for less money and with considerably more charm, albeit with a little less interior space.

Meanwhile, air conditioning costs a chilling £950 extra and side airbags inflate the price by another £235. Strange, too, that it has that rear space but they've decided that two large cup holders should take precedence over a middle seat. The mind boggles at how slow the 1.2-litre version must be; I'd imagine coastal erosion moves at more of a lick. It managed to feel less peppy than a Toyota Aygo with a 1-litre VVT, most probably because the VW weighs much more. It costs a fiver under £8,000 but despite having a comparatively large engine it was as slow as a milk float, and as noisy as a parade float. But it's cheap, right? Well, I tried the top-of-the-range version with a 1.4-litre engine and stripy seat covers. In fact, there is not a single "surprise and delight" feature on the entire car, unless you happen to be listening to Terry Wogan on its radio.