Lurking in my garage is a four-seater convertible with a straight-six engine. For a week it was joined by another, albeit one that's over 30 years newer. You see, for one glorious week in March my Triumph Vitesse was joined by an open-topped BMW 320Ci.

While there's much to link the pair - the same number of seats, cylinders, wheels, doors, etc - the cars are light years away from each other. That's probably not surpising given the age gap, but the advances made are nothing short of phenomenal.

The wonderfully supportive leather-trimmed seats fitted to our car were a work of art, just like the electric hood - you don't even have to unclip any catches on the header rail to stow it away. Hood up or down the car is amazingly quiet, although hood up at high speed isn't as quiet as a closed car. But then if you're going to use it all year round you can buy a hard top to clip on.

But even if the weather's a tad inclement you can enjoy topless motoring. Heated seats and a decent heater along with a driving position that let's the breeze pass you by means you're not going to catch pneumonia.

As we've come to expect from BMW, the 320Ci handles and rides superbly, maintaining composure even when pushed hard. Wonderfully reassuring brakes (with anti-lock), traction control and an electronic stability programme make sure you stay out of the hedges unless you're really daft.

If you do get it wrong there are roll bars that pop up from the rear head restraints. Rear seat passengers get plenty of space and with the hood up the car isn't claustrophobic - although the rear three-quarter visibility does suffer rather a lot.

The steering is communicative and perfectly weighted, and thanks to the car's rear-wheel drive the turning circle is smaller than you'd expect - making the car very manouevrable.

Whether the hood is up or down the car looks fantastic from every angle. The Ci has a low, squat stance - which looks even more purposeful with the M-Tech wheels fitted to the test car. Twin exhausts burble at tickover, and with a bit of throttle they sound surprisingly throaty.

So that's the good news - what about the bad? The 2.2-litre engine is less tractable from a standing start than you'd think, although once on the move it's possible to make swifter progress than you realise. And then there's the price. Just under £25,880 isn't that steep for such a capable car, although you'll want to spend a few extra quid on some toys (although the car's standard spec isn't too mean).

So there you have it. Apart from the few advances noted above, the Triumph Vitesse is a better car than the 320Ci convertible. It's more tractable from a standing start, costs over £20,000 less, and, er, well...

Richard Dredge

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