This is a sleek little car, very rounded and with a strong family resemblance to the rest of the '93 Honda line. There are cat's-eye headlights and auxiliary driving lights in the center of the soft nose. The steeply raked windshield's shape and placement, along with the shape and placement of the side mirrors, direct airflow around the passenger compartment. And the rear roof support forms an air dam that helps minimize the buffeting that occurs when wind flows along the side of the car and whips into the cabin.

Flow of that air also can be controlled with the buttons in the driver's armrest. As usual, one works the driver's window, with an automatic "down" function that is handy at toll booths, and another lowers the passenger window. But a third button drops the vertical rear window out of sight, turning the car into a completely open targa.

A nice touch, too, is the profile of the del Sol on the left side of the dash, with a green light to represent the back window. It serves as a reminder, so you don't go off and leave the window open after locking up the rest of the car.

Like all del Sols, the bright blue tester had a black interior that reflected the rounded exterior. Both S and Si models have a standard air bag for the driver in the four-spoke wheel, and the dash beyond the wheel is simple and smooth.

This is a very comfortable car, the comfort owing a lot to the seats, which are quite thin but molded to fit the body and featuring high wings and a narrow center panel that is padded to feel good on the spine.

Happily, the door-pull is not under your elbow as it is in some other Hondas, but there is a corner in the narrow center console that catches the point of your elbow now and then. The glovebox is small, but various bins -- including two locking compartments behind the seats -- try to make up for it.

Like the Japanese Miata and the Australian-built Capri, the del Sol has a 1.6-liter engine, and the standard transmission is a manual five-speed, with shiftless driving as an option. Like Miata and Capri, too, the del Sol turns heads and puts a grin on your face. It is tight, comfortable, agile and thrifty.