Car changeover days are rarely as painful as this… So, I’ve just handed back the keys to the Quattroporte and taken delivery of a Renault Twingo. In white. With black stripes. Ouch.

You might think I have a twisted sense of logic but the fact is, the Maserati is my favourite motor of the year. It’s not a Jaguar, a Porsche or a Ferrari but a crazy grand tourer with the maddest interior I’ve seen in decades.

Yes, it was the interior ‘wot won it’. There have been more beautiful cars than the Maserati (Jaguar F-Type, Bentley Convertible, Porsche Boxster) but that brown and blue cabin in the Quattroporte just took me back to the 1970s, when Lancia and Alfa created cabins of beauty and desire.

So, for the man with his flies down, go buy that Ferrari. Me? I’m a Maserati man and I’ve pledged to buy my own by Christmas next year. Writing my note to Santa now…