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Just when I thought Renault had done everything it could to surprise me, along came the Twingo Renault Sport. This compact car is a treasure box of driving gems.

It has a distinct design, which is most obvious in its flared wheel arches and a flow of lines from front to back that are highlighted by the headlights and fog light recesses. The lights frame a low, wide grille with a black honeycomb design.

The rear drops off in a sharper line from the roof to forego the bulging backside that can be found on models like the Clio and Megane.

More under the skin

The 16-inch alloys and low-profile 195x45 R16 tyres hint that there is more to this Twingo than a dinky engine and some lightweight fittings.

The door handles are essentially little tabs in a slot. That had me concerned that they wouldn't last long, having seen similar equipment on another brand that turned out to be very flimsy. However, the action is smooth and the handles are solidly fixed, adding to the quirky nature of this car.

The Twingo is available in a number of colours (obviously) but the test vehicle was covered in what I can only describe as a pearlescent purple. As the available light changes, so does the hue of the paint and position of highlights on body panels. It?s like a party novelty on wheels.

Play hard

The theme of playing hard continues in the cabin. There's no home for average layouts or bland design here. A hooded console centered at the top of the fascia houses the digital speedometer and information display. Only one instrument is located behind the steering wheel, a rev counter with lettering and design that makes its presence very obvious.

The gear lever bear only the Renault Sport badge with no indication of how many gears there are or where reverse is located. Half the fun of driving the Twingo is the discovery of these quirks in the design.

The front row has cushioned bucket seats and the back row seats move individually on rails so that the cabin can be set up to create maximum legroom and minimum boot area (which is still very adequate) or a small foot-well with a large loading area. The pleasurable thing is that the space wasn't fixed and predetermined by some engineer who has no knowledge of my motoring needs. Belts for all the seats are bright orange in colour, as are the accents and markings on the speedo, display, rev counter, gear lever and several other items in the cabin.

Page two .. Fun and funky behind the wheel