You don't really need us to tell you the TT looks like nothing else on the road today. But perceptions of newness are often a function of how long the beholder has been on the planet, and for NCTD staffers who have been at this for awhile, the TT does conjure up echoes of other eras. For example, even though the basic layout is front-engine, front drive, its shape is strongly reminiscent of the original "bathtub" Porsches, and Audi designers freely admit they were influenced by the mighty Auto Union Grand Prix cars of the late pre-WWII era.

Nevertheless, we think this car represents a unique design achievement-a blend of Art Deco, '50s Porsche, and contemporary engineering as original and distinctive as anything rolling today.

And, perhaps just as important, it's an excellent argument in defense of multiple applications for a single chassis, emphatic proof that cars using the same basic platform can be truly distinctive from one another, as well as their competitors.

The TT shares its underpinnings with Volkswagen's new Golf, Jetta, and Beetle, plus several cars we don't see in the U.S. market: the Audi A3, Skoda Oktavia, and SEAT Toledo. Each of these cars competes in its own well-defined niche, and each has its own character. We suspect that part of the VW-Audi expertise in character-building from a single platform lies in the elasticity of the platform itself. For example, at 95.4 inches, the TT's wheelbase is 3.4 inches shorter than the Beetle's, and the car is 2.0 inches shorter overall.

On the other hand, the TT is 5.2 inches wider than the Beetle, with a slightly wider stance, and, at 53 inches, its roofline is 6.5 inches lower. So, basically, there's no dimensional commonality at all, and it's impressive that VW is able to achieve economies of scale with such broad disparities.