Getting behind the wheel of a 911 is a bit like slipping into a comfy old leather jacket that you've owned for years: it just feels right.

Most sports cars give me that feeling that I'm wearing them, but none more so than the 911. While some of the switches may be in odd places, the main driving controls are so perfectly positioned you'd swear the car was made-to-measure. (I'm sure Porsche hires ergonomic experts to position the driving controls and three-year-olds to position the switchgear.)

The SC is of course old enough to pre-date driver aids. There is no traction control, ABS or even power-steering. I'd forgotten how enjoyable it is to drive a car with no power-steering: when you wind on the steering, you really can feel what it is you're asking the car to do. Delicious.

The acceleration within each gear is quite amazing. It doesn't actually feel that fast, it's just that the needle zips around the speedo and the scenery gets blurry with delightful ease. The gearbox is the limiting factor - changing gear is definitely a deliberate rather than rushed process in an SC - but somehow that doesn't detract from the enjoyment.

Even more impressive than the pure acceleration is the torque. Overtaking is a breeze in any gear, even 5th. Just press the loud pedal (particularly well-named with a 993 engine and no sound insulation ...) and off she goes, no hesitation, no fuss.

Older 911s have a bit of a reputation for challenging handling, with many a pub story of cars being reversed through hedges. In reality, snap-oversteer is a bit of a myth: a standard 911 will understeer first. The vast majority of reversing-through-hedge incidents result from lift-off oversteer: the car understeers (usually experienced as a skipping rather than sliding), the driver panics and takes their foot off the gas - at which point, the famed snap-oversteer does indeed kick in and the car gets blamed for driver error. Keep your foot planted, or just ease off very slightly, however, and all will be well.

The less-obvious aspect of a car you love is that it remains enjoyable even when you're tootling along through town at 30mph. You may not be using any of the car's capabilities, but you can still take pleasure from simply being in it - especially with the roof off ...