I’m going to cough up from the start – I love the Fiat Spider. It looks retro cool and rather more interesting than the angular and modern Mazda.

It’s all a matter of personal taste but as much as I rate the MX-5, I can’t help hankering for the long, curvy bonnet of the Spider, which reminds me so much of the original Fiat 124 convertible.

There’s no doubt that next summer Fiat and Mazda will be slogging it out for the top roadster spot. The Japanese will beef up its range with the folding hard-top version – Fiat has the faster Abarth model available now too.

There may not be a cigarette paper to choose between them but I’m going to make my mind up over the next seven days.

Can the MX-5 win me back to the fold?