Perhaps someone at VW is a huge admirer of the Range Rover Evoque convertible which, unless I’m missing something, is the world’s only other convertible crossover. I’m no great fan of that car, either.

It’s claimed the T-Roc is a four-seater, which it is as long as the adults in the back are below average height.

You do get two Isofix fittings too so child seats can be safely used. But with the roof in place, you lose some rear headroom over the normal T-Roc.

The boot holds 284 liters of luggage whether the convertible top is up or down.

If you ignore the more expensive Evoque, the T-Roc cabriolet’s nearest direct rivals are the Audi A3 cabriolet and BMW 2-Series cabriolet.

Against these two, the VW stacks up well because both the Audi and BMW are badly compromised on rear space, can’t accommodate lanky passengers in comfort and neither have particularly large boots.

Not surprisingly, and reassuringly for that matter, some serious strengthening has taken place. The A-pillars have been made stronger and there’s a pop-up roll bar in case of the unthinkable.

But these features have sent the T-Roc’s weight northwards, with like-for-like versions of the cabriolet weighing around 190kg more than the normal T-Roc.

Our test car weighs 1,540kg – interestingly 145kg lighter than an A3 cabriolet fitted with the same engine and gearbox as this model.

Only two engines are offered – a 1.0-liter three-cylinder with 113bhp and a 1.5-liter with 148bhp featuring cylinder deactivation.

There are also only two trim levels: Design and R-Line. The range starts at 35.700 USD for the 1.0 Design but by the time you’ve moved up to our car’s R-Line trim and a 1.5-litre engine we’re paying 43.200 USD.

That’s not so bad until you start picking a host of options in our car which adds 9.000 USD.

There are bright color options available for the inside trim, but ours is boring grey. Along with the rest of the black leather, cloth, and plastic, it makes the interior look dull. Optional blue or yellow trim would lift it.

Apart from that, the interior is well made and attractive. Infotainment and digital instruments are standard on this top-spec model and are the same ones you’ll find on posh Polos.

I’d imagine the combination of the car’s curb weight and a full load of passengers and luggage would give the less powerful of the two engines a hard time.