In this week's automotive adventures, Steve finds a new contender for his ideal sub-£40,000 buy, looks forward to next week's 125th anniversary issue - which promises to be a real cracker - and reflects on the glories of Goodwood Speedweek.
Monday
Anyone whose eye occasionally falls on this page will know that I’m forever plotting what car to buy next. Most proposals are frivolous, and my serious inner soul has learned to ignore them. But now two proper contenders have bobbed up, one at the start of the week and one at the end. Both are cars that I haven’t considered before and both fall into the £40,000-plus budget that I consider respectable for a serious car.
The first is an original Audi R8 from Audi UK’s own collection (I mentioned it here last week), which impressed me enormously by mixing mid-engined ‘specialness’ with practicality and refinement. Our own Andrew Frankel unwittingly inflamed things by admiring it greatly and pronouncing it “the best Audi they’ve ever made”. That’s clearly not a comment he would want to be tied to, but you have to say it implies respect from a bloke who knows. Nice R8s cost from £35,000 and about half have the car’s finest feature: a manual ‘gate’ gearchange that works even better than it looks.
Wednesday
We will publish our 125th anniversary issue next week, and today I had a rummage through our archive to get into the mood for stuff I’m writing. I found being locked alone in that little room, with its strong old-library smell and every cranny stuffed with the work of a thousand predecessors, a truly moving experience. It took me back almost 50 years to a mild but well-aimed caution issued by my Aussie mentor, Peter Robinson (later a distinguished European editor of Autocar), after we had published my first serious cock-up. “Remember, this is an important job you’ve got, mate,” he said. “You’re not just working for today’s readers, you know.”
Thursday
Goodwood Speedweek went off amazingly well by my judgement. There was no significant rain during the event and a lot of truly arresting racing, which we can now watch again. You can read our full Speedweek coverage here, but I managed to grab a few words with the Duke of Richmond, who insisted that it was Goodwood’s duty to “do something” despite the difficulties. Pessimists wonder whether events like these will ever be back, but I reckon they’re seriously underestimating His Grace’s iron determination.
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Maserati GT, AMG C63, RX-7,
Maserati GT, AMG C63, RX-7, GT-R, NSX... Anything other than a VW, basically.
Vauxhall VXR8 6.2
Vauxhall VXR8 6.2 Supercharged
ditchfield
I recall a ditchfield cartoon of a well healed motorist sitting in a doctors surgery whereby the good doctor says "I don't care what car you drive, I am not shortening your left leg by 3/4"