If you've owned a conventional family hatchback for what seems like years and years, then you're probably crying out for something a bit different. Something like a Volkswagen Beetle? Well perhaps. You probably hadn't considered a Beetle as a replacement, like me assuming it to be too expensive and impractical. Check out the car more carefully, as I did, and you might change your ideas. No, it's not quite as spacious as something more ordinary and you'll have to pay slightly more than you might have been expecting but both are drawbacks you might well be prepared to put up with in return for the privilege of owning one. I would be. Modern Beetles are bought as fashion accessories, as second or third cars for the weekend jaunt or the trip to the squash club. Early US buyers I'm told included Beverley Hills celebrities, a president's daughter and exclusive car rental establishments. In the UK you might see them parked outside fashionable restaurants and nightclubs. And in the parking slots of exclusive gated residential estates.

If you're ferrying people about regularly, a Beetle won't be ideal since it only comes with three doors. Buy a Golf if you want five doors. Still, the boot, although not huge, is a pretty decent size, particularly if you fold down the rear seats. Like my colleagues, I found the Beetle interior to be even more of a shock than the outside; full marks to the design team for doing the job properly, rather than filling it with Golf and Polo dials from the Volkswagen parts bin. Of course, there are plenty of tell-tale Volkswagen signs; the switches, the firm seats, the positive gearbox - but you don't really notice them. What you do notice are all the natty stylish touches. The big central circular instrument cluster with its huge numbers and cute little built-in rev counter. Plus, of course, the vase (yes, you read that right), ready for you to fill with flower power. More macho buyers can pretend it's a pen holder or something. As you'd expect from the bubble-like shape, there's enough room inside to wear an Ascot hat should the mood take you. More practically, that high roofline does make travelling in the rear reasonably palatable - though legroom is at a bit of a premium. Like all modern Volkswagens, the Beetle feels like it's hewn from stone, with the kind of build quality you'd expect from something twice as expensive. The little touches help too; the lovely blue instrument lighting which illuminates only the figures on the speedometer; the beautifully designed unique-fit stereo. Even the topless Beetle Cabriolet feels surprisingly rigid. Unlike many open-top conversions, it doesn't flex like a wobbleboard when the road is anything less than billiard table smooth. The MkIV Golf-based chassis is renowned as one of the stiffest around and the decapitation process has retained much of that torsional rigidity. The rear view mirror doesn't get an attack of the DTs when you pass over an expansion joint nor are there the sort of creaks associated with the final moments of a Bond villain's lair when you negotiate a speed hump. Thanks to that huge windscreen, front seat occupants are well protected from wind buffeting, but anybody in the rear seat will get more of a leathering at speed. Rear seat accommodation for two isn't too bad unless the front passengers have extremely long legs. Headroom is an issue at the back with the hood up, but then it is in a hard top Beetle in the first instance. There's a usefully sized boot, but if you're big on practicality, Volkswagen can offer you an alternative. It's called a Passat Estate

On the road, the ride is Germanically firm and the handling competent but generally uninspiring. There's the basis here, however, for a fine performance car; it will be interesting to see what happens if something really potent is ever installed under the bonnet. To be fair, the 1.8T manages the rest to sixty sprint in 9.0s (compared to 10.9s for the 2.0) on the way to 126mph (115mph for the 2.0).

A Beetle is always going to be an unashamed indulgence but in this case, it's one that even the family-minded user can just about justify making.