A REGULAR in the pub I drank in as a teenager used to have a renowned catchphrase.
"Back in the sixties" he would say, before waxing lyrical about everything from how life was better then to a tale of how he once carried Jimi Hendrix's guitar up a flight of stairs at London's 100 Club.
My latest run out in a smart fortwo reminded me of this as it took me right back to the sixties and one car in particular - the Bond Bug.
Three-wheelers have always been considered rather naff but the funky little Bond Bug was as cool as a cucumber.
I'm not sure what happened to the maker of this stylish little car but I do remember every young boy worth their salt had a Dinky replica and they were held in awe by young impressionable car nuts.
You might be wondering what on earth this has to do with a smart fortwo circa 2011 but the reason is simple - the colour, or rather colours.
I'm not sure whether Bond Bugs only came in orange and black but the only ones I ever saw matched these two striking colours for a look that was both strident and stylish.
I can only guess the smart fortwo passion I tested that had a similar colour scheme was some sort of tribute to the iconic little Bond Bug.
It certainly endeared me to it from the start, even if I did get some strange looks and my wife was none to impressed with it being parked on the drive.
The other big advantage is that it's a car you'll never lose in a cavernous car park.
The smart fortwo continues to fill a niche as the ultimate city car, its compact dimensions meaning it can be parked in a place where other cars just cannot go. I got to avail of this unique capability with a half a space just outside a particular shop I wanted to visit and have to say it was immensely satisfying.
While the overall appearance of the fortwo hasn't changed that much the car certainly has, with the current version a significant step up from predecessors.
Those compact dimensions have grown slightly in a bid to improve pedestrian safety, offer better rear impact protection and improved legroom.
More legroom is a bonus and that enhanced rear impact protection is reassuring too, as there's always been a slight sense of vulnerability in a fortwo.
With its high driving position it rather bizarrely has a big car kind of feel when you're behind the wheel, though any sense of that swiftly disappears when you take a look over your shoulder and see there's very little behind you.
With the convertible roof down that feeling of one-ness with the world around you is enhanced still further and has an appeal - a bit like being in a beach buggy.
The most noticeable improvement in the current version over earlier models and most definitely the original is in the development of its clutchless semi-automatic transmissions.