If you could buy a Renault Twizy here in Ireland I would have one...in my shed

Renault Ireland decided the Renault Twizy wasn’t for Ireland because, well, Ireland decided it wasn’t for the Twizy. But in truth I would buy one in the morning. It is fabulously quirky and unique and unlike anything else out there. Even compared to the other micro cars it is truly unique.

Technically, this is actually a quadricycle but for the sake of today’s unusual review I am lobbing it into the car category.

So where do I start?

Well, this is a full electric bundle of joy. It holds the unenviable slot of last place on the ‘full charge range’ leader board with just 80km. Do you think Renault cares? Nope.

The smallest cars in Ireland weigh in and around 1 tonne. This weighs 450kg. That’s less than four Tadgh Furlongs. It is 92” long, 48” wide (with a wheelbase of 66”) and it is only 57” high.

And it sits on the finest 13” wheels on the Irish automotive market right now!

This is a 10-year-old car that has had very few tweaks in those years and is perfectly comfortable on the continent where it almost blends into the surroundings without anyone taking notice.

Here however, you are gawked at wherever you drive so the shy and retiring type should not even consider it.

It doesn’t help that there are no windows so you can hear every single comment and smart remark as you sit in traffic.

There is no radio, no charge port for a phone, no cup holder, no boot, no power steering and no locks on the doors. I’m not even lying. It is devoid of some of the most basic features we have grown to expect from a modern car. But do I care? Nope.

Weirdly, there is a driver alert when the car in front takes off from traffic, which some premium badged cars could do with.

If you are posh enough to add doors (there is a sentence I never thought I’d include in a motor column) you will be delighted to hear that they are actually scissor doors which open in a spectacular attention-grabbing fashion. To open them? Yep, you guessed it, you reach inside and just open it up.

Contrary to popular belief this is not a one-seater car. There is actually a passenger seat positioned directly behind the driver but only a child could sit in it comfortably and don’t even think about asking if it comes with an ISOFIX point.

Being an EV it is surprisingly quick off the mark and can reach a top speed of 80km/h, although the max I reached was 74km. You are allowed drive it on motorways, but I would recommend you don’t. The tail wind off the back of one of the gigantic juggernauts may well pick this car up in the air!

On that point I have to say that this is the noisiest EV I have ever driven but not because there is a noisy battery, it is purely down to the fact that you have no doors or windows. You hear everything.

To charge it up only takes 3-4 hours and the only way to charge it is using a 3-pin plug. None of your fancy AC/DC charge ports here. Just a plug on the end of a 3m cable that is stored in the front of the car.

There are lots of reasons why you won’t or shouldn’t ever buy a Renault Twizy but I only had it for a few days and I fell completely head over heels in love with it. It is gorgeous looking with perfect curves in all the right places. It is fun to drive and even comfortable! It is a real head turner and will need to be homes in a shed or garage for 90 per cent of the year.

But you have yourself one of the most fun and unique cars on Irish roads that costs less than €10k and will remain a collector’s item for ever more.