Britain's Best Fun Car 2020

 While the hot hatch class continues to grow in size, Mazda’s two-seat sports car retains the compact dimensions of the 1989 original – in fact, it’s slightly shorter – and makes handling purity, rather than outright pace, a priority. So although it lacks the rear seats and luggage capacity that make a hot hatch such a usable everyday proposition, it stays small enough to be enjoyed on even the narrowest of B-roads.

Today’s fourth-generation car proves endlessly entertaining without needing enormous amounts of horsepower, rejecting forced induction in favour of a naturally aspirated engine. A recent mechanical upgrade may have raised the more potent 2.0-litre variant’s output slightly, but you’re still able to explore the entirety of its rev range while staying at road-legal speeds. Even the more modest 1.5-litre, with its 128bhp that stays more true to the original MX-5, encourages you towards 7500rpm with every gearchange. Few other modern sports cars can be taken to the redline as and when you choose without worrying about the potential consequences for your driving licence.

The driving experience remains an old-school sporting one, with a sweet-slotting manual transmission that sends power exclusively to our preferred set of wheels – but it’s still outstandingly involving and likeable. Its lightness, 50:50 weight distribution and low centre of gravity let the delightfully responsive chassis come alive through corners in a way that’s unparalleled in its price bracket, while a relative lack of grip ensures you’re able to have fun without pushing the boundaries of what is deemed responsible behaviour. Then, when you aren’t pressing on, it takes mere seconds to throw back the folding roof and enjoy an open-top cruise.