Ariel
Atom "After only a few minutes my normally florid complexion had
begun to resemble Florida. And you know what? I didn’t care because this car
— if you can call it that — is motoring nirvana."
Bugatti
Veyron "From behind the wheel of a Veyron, France is the size of a
small coconut. I cannot tell you how fast I crossed it the other day.
Because you simply wouldn’t believe me."
Bentley
Continental "This is not just a car that can reach 200mph. It is
also, more importantly, a car that can stop from 200mph, handle the bumps at
200mph and steer at 200mph."
Overfinch
Range Rover Sport "I once staged a drag race between an Overfinch
Range Rover and a 2 litre Ford Focus. And even though the Overfinch was
towing a Ford Focus on a trailer, it still managed to win."
Koenigsegg
CCX "When you lift off, huge jets of flame shoot out of the exhaust
as unburnt fuel is ignited by the heat of the pipes. I liked this feature a
lot. It’d certainly scare away the tailgaters."
Citroen
C4 "If you nod off while driving down the motorway, sensors under
the front bumper will detect the moment when you stray into another lane and
set off a vibrator in the seat to wake you up. My wife liked this feature so
much she drove all the way to London last week on the hard shoulder."
Hummer
H2 "I really did like it, a lot. Think of it as a caramel chocolate
— a hard outer shell with a soft chewy centre. Think of it as a nightclub
bouncer with a heart of gold."
Jaguar
XKR "It’s also why I have fallen so very badly in love with the new
Jaguar XKR. It sits on fat, low-profile tyres and has aluminium gills so you
expect it to be as hard as a sideboard and as unforgiving as an enraged
barbary ape."
Saab
9-3 "Speed, however, is only part of the Saab’s appeal. Style’s
another and I have to say this is a good-looking car, in the same way that
Benicio Del Toro is a good-looking man. It’s an especially nice place to sit."
Maybach
and Rolls Royce Phantom "I spent four wonderful days being driven
around in these monsters and can report that they are a realistic
alternative to speed. Yes, you can get home faster in a Ferrari, but in the
back of a Maybach or a Phantom you are doing what you’d be doing at home
anyway. Sitting back, watching the news, with a glass of something chilled."
Lotus
Exige S2 "The Lotus Exige makes an Elise feel like Bambi on that
frozen lake, and any Italian supercar like a heffalump. It's as if you’re
driving a housefly: the agility and sheer ability to get out of harm’s way
beggar belief."
Lamborghini
Murciélago LP640 "This is why I love the LP640. It’s flawed.
It’s silly. It’s got a four-wheel-drive system that doesn’t really work, a
sat nav screen that’s been put in place with hammers, and a steering wheel
that’s coated in what appears to be a black version of Top Gear dog."
Lamborghini
Gallardo Spyder "Why, you may be wondering, am I so fond of a
squeaky car with no phone, no iPod connection, too much body fat, tyres that
last less than three minutes, and the real world performance of a BMW Z4?
I’ll tell you why. Because it’s got orange seats"
Vauxhall
Corsa VXR "Normally, hen you arrive at a T junction on an incline
and you take your foot off the clutch in a normal car you roll backwards.
Not in the VXR you don’t. It’s held in place until you prod the throttle and
then it sets off. In a town like Chipping Norton or Malvern or Harrogate
this alone makes the Corsa worth a look"
...and
what is Jeremy's dream car? "Would I give up a kidney to have one?
Yes. Without a doubt. And I’d throw in my left leg as well"
