It was on a very grey Welsh day in 2004 that my love affair with the Lupo GTI formally began. I say formally, because if I am honest, the infatuation element of the affair started in the autumn of 2000, on another grey day, this time in Birmingham at that year's Motorshow.

Trudging around the halls as I had done with my Dad every year for many years we were treated to a fresh face-lift of the Elise, Fords concept for the RS Focus, and another Porsche concept that would appear later as the Carrera GT. However it was the VW stand that got my attention, for as we approached, tucked away to the side was a VW Lupo.

Not very exciting you might say, but it was clearly not an ordinary VW Lupo, this one looked different. It had chunky alloys that looked very similar to the items found on the S and RS series of fast Audi's, and a tasteful but purposeful bodykit. An examination of the rear found more non-standard bits, a central exhaust peeking out from underneath and finally, a GTI badge.

At the time, and as has been well covered by the motoring press, the GTI badge wasn't doing so well, having been tacked onto a series of undeserving, lumpy and lardy Golfs, but this looked like it could be more worthy of the GTI moniker. A review of the specs later revealed I probably wasn't wrong. 125bhp from a 1.6, in a small car of around the tonne mark. Sounded great to me, but then again at the time I was hooning around in a 54bhp Fiat Cinquecento Sporting.

Fast forward to 2004 and there I was, on the forecourt of Cardiff Volkswagen, in the drizzling rain looking at my new Lupo GTI, getting slowly wet but not caring one bit. There was the usual 'blur' part that all proud new car buyers/owners speak of when you pick up the car and like most people, all I wanted to do was get in and drive.

I had decided to take the plunge about a month before, after talking about it ever since that day in Birmingham four years before. Like the true car enthusiast that I am, of course I'd selected a few other cars that took my fancy. The MINI Cooper was sampled, and although a fine car, I felt I'd always be wanting after the S, which was out of my budget in both list price and insurance. The Smart Roadster was new out, and I had a wonderful extended test drive from the very fine Smart dealer in Cardiff. I really got to like the Roadsters character, and in fact most things about it, however it really felt like a second car to me, and even with my modest car needs it felt too impractical. Lastly the Skoda Fabia vRS was considered, but I never made it to the dealer, I couldn't get over my diesel preconceptions.

The standard spec of the Lupo GTI was reasonably generous. £13,340 got me Xenon headlights with washers, the chunky 15 inch alloys and the body-kit. The options list was fairly short with heated leather seats, air-con, sunroof and CD player the choices, with only air-con taking my fancy, at £950.

Colour was by far the hardest choice and something I agonised about for many sleepless nights before I actually decided to order the car. Initially the Lupo GTI could only be had in Red, Silver or Black, but in mid-2002 they introduced the options of Raven Blue and Grey Anthracite. About the only colour I knew I didn't want was silver, Red was the obvious choice, but the new colours looked tempting, especially Raven Blue, which looked amazing in the metal. Eventually, I took a gamble on Grey Anthracite, having no real idea what it looked like and hoped I wasn't wasting £300 on something I might not like.

My local dealer was a new operation and, despite early poor encounters with the sales staff, I was more than pleased once I got to dealing with Dean Anderson, who did me a good deal and kept every promise he made re delivery times and arrangements. Top service and it's regretful that a move away from that area meant I have been unable to use that dealer for servicing.

I am pleased to say that two years now into my Lupo GTI experience, my enthusiasm for this cheeky little car has yet to dampen. Drive after drive, from short trips to the shops to b-road blasts to Europe-wide cruises, it has yet to ever fail in its efforts to entertain and delight me.

Day to day high points have been the consistently chuckable and predictable handling, the excellent interior layout and quality and the sublime gear change. Servicing costs have been fair, having had two visits to the dealer which cost about a £100 a time and when driving carefully fuel economy has been excellent. And I got lucky with the colour, the Grey Anthracite metallic looked amazing when I first saw it, and remains more or less perfect now, bar the odd scratch and stone chip.

I would struggle to level any serious complaints at the car, the small fuel tank is about all that spoils the package and the controls could be described as being too light for some tastes, but they are far from make or break issues to me. The standard fit Dunlop Sport 2000 tyres always served me fine in the dry, but in even modestly wet weather conditions they went to pieces, giving me very little confidence. I finally got shot of them recently and went with the considerably cheaper Toyo Proxes TR-1's at £46 a corner from mytyres.co.uk. Compared to the Dunlops at £105 each, they certainly win on value for money. So far, I cannot fault them; in the wet the car is now completely different and I'll update with further thoughts in the future. I definitely recommend this upgrade to any owner out there.

The home of this little car is on the great British B-road, getting its backside muddy and tearing about the countryside, and it always impresses me that it is capable of such entertainment even at legal speeds. The snaking roads of my native Shropshire are always a joy for those keen on driving, and I can't think of many other cars I'd rather cover those sorts of surfaces and twists in.

Yet it is equally at home on the motorways of the UK and Europe; for what is meant to be a city car, its long distance cruising ability has impressed me beyond expectations. At least two 900 mile jaunts between good old Blighty and the South of France were eaten whole by the little Lupo, with the same eagerness it tackles those twisties.

And so, as you may be able to tell, the love affair continues. Nowadays, when hot hatches seem to keep gaining ever-increasing amounts of power, toys and other trinkets, I'd say the fact that I have no desire to change my Lupo GTI is the highest form of praise I can level at the car. I plan to have many more adventures in it, after all, at 20,000 miles, it's barely even run in, is it? Keep an eye out for a grinning fool on those rural border B-roads, as I can bet it'll be me.

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