A beautiful, sports car that has a practical side? Now that’s just being silly. And quite frankly when I actually first set eyes on the extraordinary Peugeot RCZ, any thoughts of a practical nature went straight out of the window. Except that is, what could I do to own one!

Often photos can give a false impression, so that you end up being slightly disappointed and let down when you see the real thing. But although the RCZ looks stunning in the press photos it doesn’t flatter to deceive: it’s even better looking in the flesh, trust me.

It is gorgeous, and while I wasn’t quite as taken with the interior as I was with the 308 CC (they’re very similar so perhaps it just looked slightly familiar) it couldn’t fail to impress.

I did eventually get to see the boot and realised that you could get a family in there should you want to, and if not, you could fill it with all manner of shopping, and even a bike should the urge take you.

Sitting in the RCZ felt fantastic; I felt as if my legs had elongated as I got comfortable in the low driving position with my legs stretched out to connect with the shiny alloy pedals. I suppose I’m so used to sitting up high in a rigid, tense position in the family car full of kids, that I had got to the point where I thought that was the only driving position possible. The large sculpted rear window allows great visibility and lets in a lot of light, so that driving becomes a more relaxed experience.

So not only is the RCZ a joy to drive, but it’s also very frugal. Peugeot, like all manufacturers, have the health of the planet on their conscience and are constantly making strides towards reducing the carbon footprint of their products. And Peugeot’s diesel engines (the petrol engines aren’t that far behind either) are famously good.

But surely the most satisfying feeling is being in a car that really turns heads. Another RCZ came hurtling towards us as we were driving along and it made you realise what an impression they make. It may be shallow, but this car really does have rather a lot of road presence, and by default, as a driver you can’t help but feel some of it rubbing off on you.

Trouble is, they’re not making many of these so I’m going to have to be quick trying to persuade the family that the RCZ would be an ideal replacement for our ancient Corsa as a second car…

Diamonds might be a girl’s best friend, but I’d settle for a Porsche any day!

I try not to allow myself to get excited by unobtainable things – it just leads to heartache and yearning. So it is with Porsches, along with the feeling of why spend so much money on a car…?

Friends who do own such cars, of course, don’t just get a basic version, theirs always have all the bells and whistles on it. The one that springs to mind is white, which I know is the new black, but to me it will always just be white.

Anyway, I’m now saving my pennies in the hope that one day I too can be driving around in a Porsche, preferably a red one, but in actual fact any colour will do.

My neighbour has obviously been saving up as well. But rather than showing it off to the street, he then proceeded to covered it up with a huge body bag. Sadly, I don’t think it gets the protection he was hoping for, as we’re all so nosey on our road and can’t help but take a peek to see what’s underneath.

After going on a Porsche launch day and having driven a variety of the purring creatures, I find it hard to see why anyone would ever want anything else. The drive took me completely by surprise, as I pottered around town expecting the engine to feel as if it was being held on a leash. In fact it felt quite civilised and dare I say, a tad dull.

I pulled onto the motorway slip road and found it hard to breathe as this apparently civilised machine took on a completely different personality – and this was just the basic Boxtster! I’d rather not talk about the 997 Targa we drove later as I think my passenger’s ears are still ringing from my screams as I floored the accelerator.

The thing with such powerful cars is that you really need to know how to drive them safely, but at the same time have some fun. It’s all too easy to go fast on the motorway (any fool can do that) but the real skill lies in taking those corners at speed in a safe and controlled way. I think I just need to practice some more – perhaps a permanent loan could be arranged!