Keen to experience those performance figures for myself I drop the fabric roof, a simple three clip job and the effect is to make the car’s silhouette even more appealing. This is the sweetest open-top roadster I have seen for years.
Pulling the seatbelt over my left shoulder and fastening it by my right hip felt a bit weird but added to the novelty. Prodding the starter button fired the engine into life, I turned out of my drive heading towards the ever darkening skies.
Initial acceleration is smooth, the clutch light. Visibility from the low slung cabin is pretty good; the Cévennes diminutive dimensions are easy to judge. There isn’t an intimidating bone in this car’s body.
Pushing on a bit through some familiar Cotswold roads it’s also obvious that this car’s good looks are matched by a well sorted chassis. The mid engine configuration sitting, well insulated, just inches behind the driver, endows the car with great weight distribution. Modern tyre technology and a well sorted chassis also ensure that the Cévennes demonstrates none of that tail happy wagging of early rear engined Porsches.
After about 20 miles I notice that I’ve left the stereo switched off and that the rain now falling has not provoked me into stopping to put up the roof. There’s only one possible reason: I’m actually enjoying the car too much to notice!
But ‘notice’ is what this car does best, I can’t recall the last car I drove that created such a public stir. Crawling in town traffic and pedestrians are duty bound to do those comedy double takes. You also quickly realise that car drivers in front spend a disproportionate amount of time gazing into their rear view mirror; it’s enough to make a girl paranoid… or more realistically flattered!
Three hours, well over 100 miles and many glances later I pull up on my driveway. In that time I notice that I have a) Driven too quickly to be troubled by the intermittent rain b) Mentally chosen my ideal paint and trim combination c) Decided that it would be fun to take the car to Nice with a friend, for the purposes of ‘further product evaluation’.
As my week with the car passed all too quickly I began behaving out of character. On Tuesday I washed the Cévennes, not in one of those automatic affairs you understand but actually washed it with a brush and chamois and stuff. On Friday I asked a friend if I looked good in it – like saying does my bum look big in this and daring the other person to answer with anything but unbridled reassurance. And on Sunday I seriously thought about hiding the car so that when the delivery driver came to collect it on Monday I could pretend I was out and keep for a bit longer.
Which got me to thinking, what kind of person would actually buy a PGO Cévennes? At £30,000 it might be a fraction of the cost of an original Porsche 356 but it is still considerably more than loose change.
So here’s my prediction. If, like me you love the idea of old cars because of the way they look, but hate the way they drive then the Cévennes is perfect. If like my friend Jane you spend your week days ferrying kids in a people carrier whilst your husband attends business meetings in his BMW 5-Series then the Cévennes is also for you, treating it like a love nest it could be your vehicle in which to escape and spend time away from the children.
But I think the biggest market for buyers comes from all those people that already own a soft top because they like every journey they make to feel like a mini motoring adventure. Dropping the roof on your car makes you feel special; it brings the countryside alive and reminds you of the freedom that motoring can give you. Now imagine all those good feelings and double them, double them again and once more for luck. At that point you’ll start to understand the unique feelings that driving a PGO Cévennes can create.
Leave a Reply