On the face of it, styling a coupe-cabriolet car can't be that difficult. Yes, there's the folding hard top to package into a boot, but some compensatory proportioning of the body and the bonnet should prevent the car looking as if it's rather too broad in the beam. Despite this, most folding tin top cars end up looking this way. Mercedes have cracked it at the top end, Volvo have made a decent stab at the C70 and Vauxhall are the only manufacturer who routinely get it right for the mass market. The Astra Twintop is probably the best-looking sensibly priced car of its type and the 1.6-litre model represents the most cost-effective way to get your name on the registration document.

That's not to say it's cheap. You'll still need to stump up £17,195 for the entry-level model and £17,995 for the Sport variant but when compared to the prices Renault and Peugeot demand, it looks good value for money. Even the base model is reasonably well-equipped with that power roof, four airbags, an alarm, CD stereo, electric windows all round and electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors. If you don't fancy exposing yourself to the other 360 days a year when the sun's not on display here in the UK, there's air-conditioning to keep the temperature just so and the windows from fogging. Perhaps Vauxhall can't be accused of any great originality hopping conveniently aboard the folding hard-top bandwagon but they're ahead of the pack when it comes to one innovation.

The 'alloy wheels' fitted to the entry-level Twintop are in fact nothing of the sort. Before you roll your eyes and complain that Vauxhall are trying to sell you a pup, attempting to pass plastic wheel trims off as alloys, it's worth having a closer look at what they call their 'Structure' wheel. To all intents and purposes it looks like an alloy. You can't see a grimy old steel wheel behind the front face, but the faceplate is plastic and is designed to be replaced cheaply and easily should you duff it up while parking. I've lost count of the amount of times I've had that sinking feeling on hearing an expensive alloy wheel crunch on a kerb stone. The Structure wheel offers the style of an alloy with the cost of a steel wheel. It's a very smart idea and one that is sure to gain widespread acceptance.

"The Twintop's styling will win it a lot of friends and the price of these 1.6-litre models won't pose an insurmountable barrier either"

Should you want real alloy wheels, your best bet is to upgrade to the Astra Twintop Sport, which features 16-inch rims as well as front fog lights, a trip computer, steering wheel mounted stereo controls and a rather extrovert remote control roof operation. Should you really want to push the boat out, you could even specify the optional 'saddle' leather or even the Adaptive Forward Lighting that shows the way round corners at night. Specifying a 105bhp 1.6-litre Twintop up to the nines, however, smacks of taking your eye off the ball. This is a relatively inexpensive and fun car that shouldn't really end up costing you the thick end of £20,000.

The Twintop moves the game on by offering a folding roof that's composed of three main sections instead of the usual two piece affair. This means that you don't need to fold two huge pieces of metal into the car's rear end, avoiding the strangely mis-shapen looks of some coupe-cabriolets. At the press of a dash-mounted button, the two overhead sections of the roof stack on top of the glass rear window and hinge backwards into the boot, offering the usual security and safety benefits of a hard-topped car with the wind-in-your-hair feel of a convertible.

What's more, the Astra Twintop isn't merely an Astra hatch that's had an angle grinder taken to it. The body was designed from the ground up as a convertible and Vauxhall reckon the two cars share at most 30 per cent of body parts. With excellent chassis rigidity when the roof is in place, driving dynamics should approach those of the lauded Astra hatch. Designed at GM Design Europe in Germany, the Astra TwinTop goes into battle against the likes of the Peugeot 307 CC and Renault Megane CC. Although, at almost 4,500mm in length, it's usefully bigger than both of these French rivals.

The styling is also better resolved thanks in no small part to that clever folding roof arrangement. The rear end carries over the petal-shaped lights of the Tigra and luggage space is better than you might expect, even with the roof stowed. Utility is enhanced by 'Easy Load', a feature raising the horizontally stacked parts of a folded roof at the push of a button, making cargo easily accessible. Great when you've got an armful of shopping in other words.

Vauxhall may stand charged with a marked lack of originality when it comes to the Astra Twintop but if you're going to be a follower, at least be a good one. That's where the Astra looks set to score. It's good looking, offers a name that UK buyers trust and comes with a range of decent engines. Overall then, the omens look very good indeed. After all, evolution has shown there to be certain benefits in waiting until the coast is clear.

TOP 4 ASTRA DEALS

The results below show the top ASTRA deals on buyacar

	Vauxhall Astra 2.0T 16V Design 2dr twintop Convertible
	ETR	Mthly £350	Saving £2,953	Price £19,207
	Vauxhall Astra 1.6 16V Sport 2dr [115] Coupe
	ETR	Mthly £288	Saving £2,411	Price £16,124
	Vauxhall Astra 1.9 CDTi 16V Sport 2dr twintop Convertible
	ETR	Mthly £328	Saving £2,809	Price £18,186
	Vauxhall Astra 1.9 CDTi 16V Design 2dr twintop Convertible
	ETR	Mthly £341	Saving £2,954	Price £18,941

typical 10.33% APR

PCP finance quote over 48 months,  10,000 miles pa,  deposit of £1000