The 968’s thirty-fifth anniversary is something I’ve been looking forward to celebrating in these pages. I’ve got skin in the game, so to speak — regular readers will know I was (until recently) the owner of a 968 Sport, a car I loved. I’m regularly window shopping classifieds as I toy with the idea of buying another. Put simply, these are brilliant sports cars, perfectly poised, relatively cheap, beautifully balanced, pleasingly comfortable and delivering a fair amount of grunt from the VarioCam-equipped M44 three-litre inline-four.

The first Porsche I drove was a 968. A Cabriolet, in fact. I’m not the world’s biggest drop-top fan (personal preference is a coupe without sunroof), but that car left a lasting impression. The engine’s operating sound, the ease with which power could be accessed, the stunning wraparound backside and, of course, the brilliant ‘oval’ dashboard, introduced to the 944 Turbo in 1985, carried over to the 944 S2 and proving there was still plenty of life left in it by the time of the 968. It remains an excellent example of ergonomic design.

Few people outside Porsche circles know the 968 exists. Indeed, I lost track of the number of “nice 944” comments received when out in my 968. This might just be the Porsche scene’s best-kept secret.