Skodia Slavia puts a smile on your face as soon as you press the starter button

I CAN only apologise for the headline – courtesy of Nineties boy band Blue.

But they are the only words that came to me when I jumped in this Skoda roadster.

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A car designed by students which explains the dinner plate-sized Pioneer speakers you can hear 50 miles away. System up with the top down. Just as Boris . . . Got the city on lockdown.

You’ll be singing it for the rest of the day now, which is probably more than Duncan is doing these days. Now, let’s crack on and talk cars.

As if 2020 couldn’t get any crazier, Skoda has built a McLaren Elva but £1.4million cheaper. Or a Renault Wind?

I quite like it. Stick some Audi badges on it and soften those speedster humps behind the seats and people would buy it, especially with Britain being No1 for convertibles in Europe.

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I think the global numbers are: California first, Essex second. But there’s absolutely zero chance of this project car ever making production — even though Skoda has history with convertibles in the Sixties.

The chief reason being that Skoda is not a global brand and doesn’t sell cars in America, so the numbers wouldn’t stack up today. Which means this open-top Scala — called Slavia, after the Czech firm’s first bicycle 125 years ago — is purely a showcase of what they could do, if they ever get bored of making sensible family cars.

Previous efforts from the Skoda Academy include the Mountiaq, a pick-up truck based on the Kodiaq SUV. I liked that too. Skoda should build it. So, what did the apprentices do to create the two-seat Slavia — apart from slicing the roof off a Scala, removing the rear seats and adding a bangin’ sound system?

They kept the standard 150hp engine but dialled up the sportiness by bolting on a nice throaty exhaust, 20in wheels from a Kodiaq vRS and Sparco race seats.

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They also welded the rear doors shut and strengthened the underbody. The result is a car that puts a smile on your face as soon as you press the starter button: Noisy exhaust, noisy stereo, headroom of about 20,000 miles and a heated steering wheel.

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It’s what driving should be all about. I’m not sure about the embroidered lions beside the speakers but there are two things I can definitely see Skoda bosses taking from this car.

The first is the illuminated Skoda lettering on the boot — it glows red when you brake, white when you reverse.

The second is the fold-up electric scooter in the boot. How long before Skoda start selling them I wonder?