Peugeot 308 CC: Warm necks, warm hearts

In the UK, we're chronically disadvantaged. Our kids are fat, our economy sucks and cruising in a convertible with the roof stashed away like a dead hooker in the boot is seldom pleasant, thanks to our pathetic climate. So Peugeot's developed something called the Airwave heating system, and it's in the new Peugeot 308 CC convertible.

Essentially it's a heater in the driver and passenger seats that warms your neck and head like a scarf -- in fact, it's eerily reminiscent of Mercedes' Airscarf system. Of course, you could just not drive a convertible, but you'd miss out on some neat tricks of the reasonably affordable 308 CC, which should start selling at around £19,000 later this year.

Two in-car multimedia and sat-nav systems will be offered: the standard Peugeot Connect Nav which features MP3 player compatibility, a CD player, built-in Bluetooth, RCA input in the glove box and a 16:9-format colour screen for mapping and whatnot. The more upmarket Peugeot Connect 3D Nav also features voice recognition.

It'll be offered with four different engines -- two petrol, two diesel. The 1.6-litre petrol-driven 308 CC 1.6 THP will deliver 37.7mpg, does 0-62 in 10.5 seconds, can hit a top speed of 134mph and emits 177g/km of CO2.

It'll be on sale in May for between £19,000 and £24,000. Click through for more photos.