Drop into the slim cockpit and your proper arm falls naturally exterior the bodywork. You sit behind a easy four-spoke, leather-rimmed steering wheel dealing with a chic sprint of turned aluminium, inset with a scattering of small dials and an extra-deep cubby. To date, so classic. The leather-trimmed two-seat bench (behind which is 155 litres of stowage house) may be adjusted fore and aft and also you sit low contained in the automotive together with your legs roughly straight in entrance of you.
Thumb the starter and the V-twin thumps into life. Pedal controls are gentle – maybe somewhat too gentle – and it takes a couple of miles to acclimatise to the push-pull, aluminium-topped Citroën gearshift sprouting from the sprint, with its slim gate and dog-leg first.There’s no hood, so the curved scuttle and tiny Perspex display are your solely safety towards the weather. At 5ft 7in, I needed to hunker right down to keep away from being within the airflow, so anybody taller would wish goggles.
However make no mistake: the T24 is an absolute hoot to drive. You watch the thin, 18in, spoked entrance wheels, shod with correct classic cross-ply tyres, working away in entrance of you, however the experience is genuinely elegant: supple, managed and quiet.
The engine, which sends old-school vibrations by the physique at decrease revs, quickly smooths and from 3500rpm pulls enthusiastically as much as its 7750rpm redline, accompanied by a vocal however totally infectious soundtrack. The rack-and-pinion steering is pretty low-geared, so you end up working fairly arduous by tighter bends whenever you’re in control. However the advantages of that low centre of gravity imply tight and really unvintage physique management, with solely entrance grip limiting your final cornering velocity.
