Even a bit of spirited cornering won't force the kids together, although it might scare them initially. This is one of those cars that can turn in so quickly that it feels as though you've just put your body through a fighter pilot's G-simulator. Colin Chapman was always good at suspension, setting spring and damper rates unfashionably low but compensating by decent geometry and a rigid chassis. The Spyder tweaks have kept faithful to that philosophy, and the result is remarkable grip from mere 185/60x14 tyres.

Everything is so precise. The steering rack (now a new Rover item in place of the increasingly difficult to rebuild Triumph Herald original) nips from lock to lock in just two and three-quarter turns, and not a fraction is wasted in unwanted bush movement or play. Sometimes the steering wheel twitches nearly as much as a Porsche 911's, which is initially disconcerting until you realise it's telling you what's happening at the sharp end, not threatening a wipe-out. Inevitable, over five intensive days with this car, I started to push it harder and harder, but it never scared me or did anything unexpected.

Even after the first day, compromised by hours of photography, I was telling anyone who'd listen what a bargain it could be. After two days I was trying to persuade my best mate to buy one, and after three I was totting up the costs of building one myself. I'd seriously consider it. In fact when you look into it, the economics of this car are amazing. Ropey Plus 2s sell for anything between £1,000 and £2,500. The chassis will be rotten, particularly round the front suspension bulkhead and the rear suspension pick-up points, but the glassfibre body will probably be intact, except for a few light cracks in the gel-coat.

So you strip it down, sell off the engine, gearbox, suspension, differential and wheels. That will make at least £1,500. The new chassis costs just under £1,900 with VAT, and the suspension costs just over £2,000. You'll pickup an excellent Zetec for a few hundred quid, but there's no way you'll be able to use its injection or engine management system (it's just too complicated to adapt) so you'll need throttle bodies and an aftermarket electronic control unit. Spyder use one from Emerald, which even has the option to add electronic traction control, should you want it. Suffolk-based Dunnell Engines specialises in similar systems.

You'll need to find Sierra hubs, brakes and gearbox, a Scorpio differential (this car is limited-slip) and a pair of Spyder driveshafts, complete with CV joints rather than those strange rubber doughnut couplings that elastically afflicted original Elans and Plus 2's.

By the time you've bought wheels too, and had the body tidied up (new bodies are still available, but usually it's just cracks in the gel-coat to be remedied), you'll probably be in for £10,000. For that you'll have a no-worries missile with classic credibility and modern strength. Does that sound too complicated? Then Spyder will build one for you. The price will depend on specification, but you can reckon on it being about £12,500-plus.

Oh, and the question at the start of this - is it a Lotus? well, it's bargain-priced, fast, sharp, fun. It's independently sprung, powered by a Ford based twin-cam and it's been given the Club Lotus seal of approval by chairman Graham Arnold, a former Lotus director. In my book that seals it. It's a Lotus through and through.

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Classic cars September 2002