PH 2013: Our favourite cars
The personal favourites of the PH team, as driven in the last 12 months
Here then are our personal picks from the cars we've driven in the last year. All choices are the writer's own, etc...
Enjoy!
It's always nice to return to a car and find it better than you remembered. Better still if that gives you a chance to bust some well-established myths. And even better still if it's got a 600hp-plus V8 and announces that fact through side exhausts at 115db.
Yes, the favourite car I drove this year was a blast from the past, re-imagined by McLaren's Special Operations division and fitted with its wonderfully sinister all-carbon rebody. Beneath it the modifications to the SLR's notoriously twitchy steering and unforgiving chassis turned a flawed hero into an absolute hoot, less muscle car than monster car that made good on its jaw dropping looks with a driving experience that was more fun than frightening.
If the SLR's mechanical underpinnings have dated a little the raw performance and the looks haven't. I loved every minute in this car and, seemingly, so did everyone who saw it. Magnificent!
Favourite car driven in 2013: It's a tough decision! With Mr Trent having already nabbed the PH Mercedes vote (that's C63 507 out then, and the SLS GT3 for that matter), I need to look elsewhere. As a first 911 driving experience, the 997 GT3 was outrageous, although it can't be my favourite as I never drove it in the dry. It was undeniably exhilarating, absorbing and challenging, but the underlying fear means it can't quite be the best. Call me a wuss, but I want to drive something like that in the dry.
But my favourite car of 2013 is rear-engined. It's the VW XL1, easily the slowest car I've driven since starting in July. But it's just so innovative, original, cool and desirable. The engineering work is just phenomenal and yet it just works like any other VW, albeit from much lower down and with great steering. There's a place in the 10-car garage reserved for it, easily.
As if in preparation for his Caterham Academy adventures in 2014, Matt lunged through on the inside and had a 911 in the running for this section before I could get my vote in. The editor may have therefore preferred me to choose the Porsche Cayman or Jaguar F-Type that had so impressed me in 2013, but the 1974 Carrera 2.7 was so wonderful that I stood firm.
As part of the 911's extensive 50th anniversary celebrations a few colleagues and I had travelled to Stuttgart to revisit some of the earlier models. Over the course of a full day in early spring I drove each of the first five generations, from 1965 original to first-of-the-water-cooled 996. The orange Carrera 2.7, not far off a 2.7 RS in drag, stood head and shoulders above everything else; the unassisted steering, the superb engine, the sound, the compactness. I adored it. The 991? For me, it just doesn't compare as a sports car or as a 911.
I begin every year with the slightly weird hope that the Ferrari F40 won't be the best car I will drive, because for me it remains the driving experience. We need progress after all.
The best, in the conventional sense, was a new BMW 318d hire car which cruised at 120mph and didn't appear to use fuel.
The first time a 991 GT3's rev-counter moved beyond 8,000rpm I laughed loudly, and the RS6 was truly excellent. As you all know the F12 comprehensively blew my mind to the extent that I spent a while investigating finance options. Silly boy.
All the while my daily wheels, a new CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake and the NFG Audi S4 were always great company and, because of the sheer volume of time spent in them, they provided some of the most memorable drives.
I love the fact that the Alfa 4C exists, I will always love the Lister I drove at Goodwood this year, and I'm eternally grateful for the opportunities this job brings. I will miss my motorsport pals Graham Gleeson and Sean Edwards something rotten in 2014.
And the F40 was, again, the road car experience I will remember most. But that Lister Jaguar, screaming at 6500rpm as it slid past Jean Alesi - yep, safe to say it doesn't come much better than that.
Merry Christmas, and thank you for your support in 2013.
"The orange Carrera 2.7, not far off a 2.7 RS in drag, stood head and shoulders above everything else; the unassisted steering, the superb engine, the sound, the compactness. I adored it. The 991? For me, it just doesn't compare as a sports car or as a 911."
Just add lightness...
Cheers,
Dan
The video of Harris sliding the Lister around alone is more interesting. (IMVHO)
The video of Harris sliding the Lister around alone is more interesting. (IMVHO)
The video of Harris sliding the Lister around alone is more interesting. (IMVHO)
Matt
so my top cars are:
Fiesta ST - old school Ford, loads of fun, relatively light, not too fast, not too complicated...its tops for me!
Then honourable mentions to the Ferrari F12 (for that engine), 991 GT3 (ditto) (but not the turbo) and Audi RS6 (best all round day to day performance car in the world?) -but again too fast for the road really..
Leftfield award = Alpina D3 bi turbo diesel....(petrol is rather nice too!)
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