Make mine a slightly smaller one

The Little Car Company has hit new heights of scaled-down kerb appeal with its recreated

- James Disdale

That's a very cool car," coos the cyclist as he pulls up alongside us at a set of traffic lights in central London. He's far from the first of our fellow road users to offer this positive appraisal, and we've been on the road for barely 15 minutes.

As the signals turn green and we move away he chimes in with another observation: "Wow, it's electric - that's amazing." Again, we've heard this before, and we'll continue to hear it for the rest of our jaunt around the capital.

Our two-wheeled friend keeps pace with us for 100 metres or so before the traffic slows again and he's able to slip ahead through the snarl-up.

However, just as he disappears he takes one more glance back at us and, with a big grin, shouts: "You have the best day!" It's an unexpectedly generous and friendly wish from a resident of what is traditionally the UK's grumpiest city, but it's also a largely unnecessary instruction because, frankly, we're already having a whale of a time. Despite being not only in what is likely to be the slowest and most basic car an Autocar tester will pedal in 2024 but also confined to the congested streets of London, both myself and snapper Jack Harrison, who is perched behind me, have been giggling like idiots from the moment we turned a wheel.

Welcome, then, to the Bentley Blower Junior, the latest Lilliputian creation from the Little Car Company. The Bicester-based concern has already produced a number of exquisite pint sized and electrically powered recreation motors, most notably an Aston Martin DB5 and a Ferrari 250 Testarossa, but the Bentley is the firm's first road-legal offering, hence our chance to sample it on public roads.