Car reviews tend to be written by experts. They talk knowledgeably about torque, track width and turbo-lag, then film smoking doughnuts before returning the cars, tyres ruined, to the PR people. And that's how it should be; possibly. It certainly makes good TV and videos, but does it really tell a man what he wants from a car? I recently had the pleasure of driving an Aston Martin DB11 and I now know what I want.
There is the dream, of course. The pleasure of owning something rare and precious. In reality a man knows what he likes, reads the occasional motoring magazine or blog and laughs with Clarkson as he drifts around airfields in impossibly powerful cars. Otherwise a car buyer like me probably doesn't really know how a modern car works or what makes it good. He just knows that he loves the pride of ownership, the urge as a car accelerates, the growl and thunder as he guns the engine and the insistent nudge of gravity as he corners hard. He also loves the sinuous lines of a beautiful motor car almost (of course) as much as he admires the body of his lover.
Nowadays, in terms of performance, the distinction between a pure sportscar and a grand tourer is blurred. The sportscar is still a stripped-out machine, saving weight by sacrificing comfort. But, unless you drive your car on a track, when will you really want to drive a car like that at its screaming limit? Far better to go for the grown-up option: the grand tourer.
The name GT is still redolent of idle saunters along the Corniche to Monaco, the scent of luxurious leather mingling with that of the roadside pines, the engine thrumming gently as a counterpoint to the sound of the cicadas. And British car manufacturers know best how to make GTs, as the glorious role of names such as Bentley, Bristol, Jaguar, Aston Martin and many others testify. Driven by gentlemen (cads drive sportscars) the GT hides its power under a cloak of elegance and luxury.
I recently drove an Aston Martin DB11 through the golden leaves of a Cotswold autumn. I don't think (well, I'm not totally sure, as its smooth progress at speed hides its pace) I drove the car at more than 60mph, but the style in which I did so, the supreme comfort and the ease with which it manoeuvred through the twisting lanes, the agility with which it held onto the leaf-strewn bends and the aural rewards as I accelerated onto the straights was an experience I'll not forget easily. And the sound is sensational, gentle when idling in GT mode and becoming progressively more strident in S and S+ modes, the engine note barking back off the yellow Cotswold limestone as we wound through the narrow lanes of the village to our hotel (sorry, residents of Painswick).
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| Grey Fox and his Aston Martin DB11 - for the day |
The name GT is still redolent of idle saunters along the Corniche to Monaco, the scent of luxurious leather mingling with that of the roadside pines, the engine thrumming gently as a counterpoint to the sound of the cicadas. And British car manufacturers know best how to make GTs, as the glorious role of names such as Bentley, Bristol, Jaguar, Aston Martin and many others testify. Driven by gentlemen (cads drive sportscars) the GT hides its power under a cloak of elegance and luxury.
There are three kinds of male car buyer: the man who buys one to show off to his mates, the man who simply wants to experience the joys of owning a highly-engineered thing of beauty and (most of us) the man who comes somewhere between the two extremes, with the emphasis on the appreciation of an engineering masterpiece.
I also had the pleasure of seeing this masterpiece being crafted at Gaydon, Aston Martin's home. From the upholsterers cutting and sewing the leather upholstery to the delicate mating of chassis and running gear, the impression is of a hospital where pride and skills ooze from every phase of the manufacturing process.
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| Speechless for once, I gaze in awe at a motoring masterpiece |
The history of Aston Martin is fundamental. A huge graphic display of photographs greets the visitor which spans the hundred year history of the marque and a beautifully restored collection of cars underlines the racing and luxury heritage. From a very early Aston Martin Lagonda to James Bond's DB10, the tale is consistently one of quality and performance.
The Aston Martin DB11 is powered by a 5204 cc twin-turbo V12 engine producing 600 bhp. It has an 8-speed ZF automatic gearbox and accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in 3.9 seconds, reaching 200 mph. A 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine is being developed with Mercedes-AMG for future use in the DB11.
I was a guest of Aston Martin. We had lunch at Cowley Manor near Cheltenham and an overnight stay at Painswick Hotel, Gloucestershire, which I cannot recommend highly enough for a quiet Cotswold weekend.
Note: Jeremy Clarkson is on holiday :) :0