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It was a two-day fling: long enough to promise an impossible forever, short enough to produce only pleasant memories.

I didn’t want to part with the Audi TT Coupe. But it was a hot property, available in limited numbers for test drives, sought by auto writers everywhere.

Audi promised to send another sample to me for a week’s run. But the company’s oath had the sincerity of a one-night stand. Anyway, I don’t want another TT. I want that TT–brilliant black with clear-coat finish, right rear fender higlighted by an aluminum fuel filler cap anchored by exposed Allen screws, an ebony interior with aluminum brightwork and Valcona leather seats.

Other TTs come with much the same equipment, but the test car was my first. It had only 200 miles on the odometer at delivery. We blended nicely immediately, man and car, going nowhere in particular but having a darned good time getting there.

Cynics might call this infatuation, classic middle-aged angst. After all, stripped to its basics, the TT is a Volkswagen Beetle, Golf or Jetta.

All four cars are built on VW’s global, front-wheel-drive A4 platform. All four have similar exterior dimensions, as well as certain interior shortcomings–uncomfortable rear seating for tall people and door sills that tend to bop heads upon entry or exit.

Yet, the cars differ greatly. The TT, for example, has a definite sporting attitude–happily accomplished, in the case of the test model, without a winged rear spoiler.

The TT’s exterior, in fact, is quite free of gimcrackery. It is Bauhus design at its best–simple, straightforward, yet indisputably powerful in its juxtaposition of lines and circles. It is a curious mixture of industrial art and sensuality–a body sitting above its standard fat 16-inch alloy wheels and accommodating rounder-than-thou wheel wells that appear to consume most of the body. The coupe’s two doors are dropped between rounded slopes, front and rear–a sculptural ode to speed.

The dashboard is an exquisite work of retro styling with its hooded instrument panel and aluminum-capped air vents. I’ve seen and used gearshifts of all types, but the TT’s was the first that I could call pretty.

Had I not been smitten by the TT’s looks, I surely would have fallen for its drivetrain. The standard engine is a zoomer, a 1.8-liter, turbocharged, intercooled, double-overhead-cam, 20-valve four-cylinder job capable of producing 180 horsepower at 5,500 rpm. Maximum torque of 173 pound-feet is available over a broad range, from 1,950 rpm to 4,700 rpm. Acceleration–0 to 60 mph in about 7 seconds–seems effortless.

Well, so much for catharsis. I’d hoped to be over the TT’s absence by this writing. Clearly, I’m not.

2000 Audi TT Coupe

Complaints: TT stands for “Tourist Trophy,” the name of an auto race once held on the Isle of Man in Britain. But you’ve got to contort yourself so much to get in and out of the TT, the initials could mean “Turn and Twist.”

Praise: The co ntortions are worth it. This is an absolutely beautiful sports car, the essence of the concept of “car.”

Head-turning quotient: Snapped necks everywhere.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Triple aces. The car handled most road imperfections with poise, thanks to well-designed four-wheel independent suspension.

Brakes: Excellent braking; power-operated, ventilated front discs and solid rear discs with standard anti-locks.

Safety: Slow-deployment front air bags, and standard side bags mounted in the front seats. Air-bag deactivation switch for front passenger. Locking front-seat headrests.

Capacities: Supposedly seats four. Baloney! This is a two-seater with four seats. Fuel tank holds 14.5 gallons recommended premium unleaded. Trunk holds 13.8 cubic feet with rear seat up, 24.2 with seat down.

Mileage: About 23 miles per gallon in the tested TT, running a factory-new engine for an estimated 323-mile driving range on usable volume of fuel.

Price: The TT goeson sale in the United States in May. Base prices will run from $30,500 to about $36,000. The tested model was about $36,000.

Purse-strings note: A toy if ever there was one. But I like toys. Don’t you?