GREATEST But where the Coupe has no rivals anywhere is with the top off.

WHO says that size matters, or that hard is better than soft, or that big is better than small?

Well, every woman who reads 50 Shades of Grey apparently, but this is no motoring version of the ultimate girl's guide to acceptable chick-porn.

Today I want to show that the smaller the better, in fact last week I rolled around in a car that was no bigger than a widget, but it could very well be the king of the road.

The Mini Cooper Roadster is Napoleon without any of the syndrome, pocket-sized with a heavy punch.

It only has two seats, but it seems like you're driving the world from behind the wheel, a real warning to small car rivals everywhere.

But where the Coupe has no rivals anywhere is with the top off.

The soft top version is called the Roadster and hardtop version, which doesn't come off is called the Coupe, but both are beautiful looking cars either hard or soft.

But it's the latter that I have a soft spot for, given that it looks amazing with the lid down, but sumptuously spaceage with the top up.

A newspaper poll across the pond has found that the greatest British-made car of all time is the Mini, and I can only agree . . . well, sort of.

What it means is that the old Mini is the thing of mechanical and motoring genius. But what I prefer is the German version.

A bit like the Royal Family, it took a few Germans to make a British institution great, and that's what BMW has done with Mini.

The modern Mini is unlike the original, in that I love this version and I didn't have any great affection for the old one.

Of course it's the original of the species that gets all the authentic types into a deep lather of nostalgic nonsense, like warm bottles of Guinness or the smell of cabbage.

I'm more a fan of the German variety, the BMW-built Minis of today.

Not only are they the best Minis, but they're the best cars that I drive all year, time after time and for one very good reason, that terrible three letter word: 'Fun.'

And they are fun, fun, fun. There, I've said it, and I hate myself.

Because what is fun when it comes to driving a car?

Well an interior design that has so many different combinations and possibilities and an outside look that is quite sensational, looks are not going to be a problem, that's for sure.

Mine came with additional chrome décor rings, piano black trimming, carbon black colouring and a sprinkle of soft leather furnishing to give the interior that classic feel.

On the outside twin stripes marry together to make up a most delicious overall look.

Performance is stunning thanks to the Cooper engine which pokes glorious power for both take off and cruising.

The press blurb says this works out at about 160bhp, but it felt more like 200.

The trouble with driving around in a car so small is that it can make you feel a little inadequate -- not with the Mini Roadster though, because size doesn't matter -- it's what's inside that counts.

The MINI Coupe starts at €23,800.