I test drove six Corrados before making my choice. It's amazing how different cars can be even though they're the same make and model. The best one I found is pictured above and was mine for nearly 12 months.

Unfortunately there exist those who think they can have car stereos without paying for them, so I was relieved of mine some seven days after I got the car. I learnt my lesson though, I would never leave the face-off stereo in the car again. Once wasn't enough, they were back again two weeks later before I had even had the chance to replace it! All they did was ruin one door lock and nick the grille and badge.

Barely a month after that, someone obviously high on something crashed into the side of me and did 3 grand worth of damage! I thought that this car was a bad omen, but as the saying goes, those three counts of bad luck are all I've had in the car. Or so I thought... I was sleeping soundly at 5am for my trip to Seattle (where I now live) later that day when the car alarm went off. I looked out my window and saw a flashlight moving around my car. I jumped into what clothes I could and ran down to confront them but they heard me open the front door and legged it into the bushes, across the neighbour's back garden. I winced in horror when I saw the passenger window had been broken for the third time and my second car stereo was hi-tailing it across a few of my neighbour's dew-soaked lawns. Great. And on that morning of all things!

The car itself is magnificent to drive. The handling is really second to none. It's no use going to your local suspension dealer and whacking on four stiff shocks that will give you a hernia every time you hit a pothole. The Corrado is more than that. The perfectly balanced chassis inspires instant confidence and leads you into and out of every corner like you're not driving fast enough, it takes them as if it's mocking you, tempting you to try again at twice the speed. It gives a little lean when cornering, then holds tight - brilliant. The engine, although certainly not slow, could be improved in the mid range band. It needs a flatter torque delivery between 2 and 4000rpm. Other than that, there is little on the roads that can compete with the under-rated VR6.