These are cars for people who place a premium on the driving experience, people for whom every tunnel is the one in Monaco, people who don’t mind a slightly firmer ride if it means they can be sure of hitting that drain cover on the long left-hander on the exit of the roundabout three miles from home if you’ve taken the medium-long way back from work. Road racers; cars that feed your fantasies of being on the Stelvio or the Nürburgring.
First up, and indicative of the breed, is the Aston Martin V12 Vantage. With the 12 cylinders of the DBS squeezed into the Vantage, the engineers at Gaydon have created a truly wonderful car. It seems absurd that a body this small should be packing nearly 6 litres and 510bhp. A quick look at the tread pattern of the tyres and the aerodynamic tweaks straight from the N24 race programme shows that this isn’t just intended to be some straight-line monster either. Like many other Brits, the Aston will no doubt feel that this magical corner of Germany is a home from home.
Next up, a car that makes the mighty Aston seem under-engined – the Corvette ZR1. Even written on the page, 638bhp is pretty eye-widening, but it’s the torque that’s the most frightening number – 604lb ft, and all of it available at 3800rpm. Fortunately, as with the Aston, the wheels hide huge carbon-ceramic discs. The Roots-supercharged American should be a force to be reckoned with in the corners too, as weight has been kept down to 1528kg by using carbonfibre for the roof, bonnet, splitter and front bumper. And if the new Vette’s chassis builds on the Z06’s then we’re in for a treat.
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