Best and the rest
Alan Judd
What do you think is the best car in the world?' asked my fellow rail sufferer as our train approached London Bridge like a reluctant glacier. I, too, have a stock list of evasions: where the railways plead signalling/track/points 'difficulties', I plead that such questions are meaningless, impossible, like asking who is the world's best sportsman, dependent on what you want a car for, etc. etc.
For some the best car would be the £600,000 Mclaren Fl, the fastest road car ever (240mph) and beautiful to behold. For others it might be the 1989 Peugeot 205 spotted recently on a garage forecourt. with clean bodywork and interior and ten months' MOT for £125. What more do many drivers need?
But it's not only about need. It's also status, comfort, aesthetics, driving pleasure, engineering integrity and the aura of good craftsmanship. For my current requirements, the best car would probably be a Range Rover (£45,995-£60,995) because of its superb driving position and interior, its effortless towing capability, its untiring Tardis-like drive and its roominess. For the rest of the world I might suggest the Mercedes E-Class E320CDi saloon or estate (£34,060435,885), despite recent rumours of a decline in Mercedes build quality. Not only is the 320CDi an excellent, economical and effortless diesel, but I preferred the E-Class cabin and drive to those of the more expensive S-Class.
'I asked what you thought was the best car in the world,' my companion repeated. 'not for a selection of what you think might be best for other people.'
Which qualities, then, should the best car in the world have? (Rolls-Royce once claimed the title for themselves, before — I believe — the first world war, but not since.) It would have to be a production car, not a sports car or a specialist or oneoff. It should do all the conventional things, such as carry four adults plus luggage, better than most other cars, and some better than any. It should be made as well as its makers could make it, with little or no regard for expense. It should go well, last well, feel good and look good.
The £56,863 Lexus LS, VW's £68,260 Phaeton and the BMW 7 Series don't look the part. VW's much-heralded and very costly Bugatti promises much but keeps failing to appear. Bristol's £205,625 Fighter is more striking than aesthetically pleasing, and too little known for comparison. The mighty £243,7804281,380 Maybach looks like an overblown Rover 75 but lacks the proportions of that excellent car, and so that too loses on aesthetics. I've not driven it, but reports suggest it may be the best car in the world in which to be a rear passenger and that everything works perfectly without quite adding up to whatever makes a truly great car. Someone compared it to a perfect designer kitchen. I think I'd prefer the £39,963470,213 Jaguar XJ to any of them.
Nor have I driven the £240,000 150mph Rolls-Royce Phantom, but reports are good and it may rival the Maybach for rear-seat comfort. Criticism has focused on its uncompromisingly assertive front end, but that seems to me entirely apt for the carriage of kings and emperors. Its proportions are good, too, with the roof-line set at two wheels high, which is ideal. My doubts are partly about the rear — usually the hardest part to get right — but mainly about the lack of flow in the lines. The iconic 1950s Silver Cloud, which the Phantom's designers studied deeply. combined uncompromising presence with grace; the Phantom lacks grace. Nevertheless, our postman, Steve, assures me that you drive in silence, that you feel no bumps, that it handles remarkably and that the low-down torque (75 per cent of 531lbft at 1,000rpm, with no turbo) blows you away. Steve, motorcyling owner of a Silver Cloud and a Bentley Eight, knows what he's talking about, so the Phantom should be a serious contender. Unless it troubles you that there's no room for a spare — they have the largest wheels of any production car and only a few specialists can change the £500 run-flat tyres.
For my money (£151,500-£166,500, to be precise), the best car in the world is the 168mph Bentley Arnage. Granted, I've driven a couple of thousand miles in them and so I know that performance and handling are more than satisfying, but it's not just familiarity. They have the exterior grace the Phantom has lost, along with a more understated but still undeniable presence; their proportions and lines suggest the Platonic ideal of a four-door, four
seater car. The interior is such that you feel better just getting in, and much of it is bespoke — one owner specified wood from his own tree. If! had one, other cars would still come and go but I'd keep the Bentley for life.
This was the commitment my companion wrung from me as our glacier inched towards London Bridge. 'Next time I'll ask what is the worst car in the world,' he threatened. That's much harder.
Previous page
