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Back in the 80s, if your dad brought home any car with an L badge on it, you’d have been a bit embarrassed in the schoolyard. L usually denoted the base model; if it wasn’t a GLX or at least a GL, then it clearly wasn’t all that desirable.
Audi has turned the tables on that, reserving the letter for its flagship, range-topping A8. On the Audi, the little chrome L badge signifies the long wheelbase: the extra 130mm makes for a limo length of 5.27 metres.
The massive A8 land-yacht has all the luxuries you’d expect, even at the entry level £58,000 end, but it’s the W12 L version pictured here that really pushes the limits of what a car can offer. The 6.3-litre, 12-cylinder, 500PS engine impels it up to its electronically limited 155mph so effortlessly you wonder how fast it could actually go if unchecked. But despite its sheer size, lavishness and presence, it is nothing if not impeccably tasteful.
A wolf in wolf’s clothing
Tasteful, on the other hand, is not a word BMW would ever use to describe its M3. M3 drivers don’t want to be understated or classy, they want to be lairy and in your face. With that in mind, BMW is offering its new super-M3, the GTS, in one colour only: this hairy-chested, pelvic-thrusting orange.
You’ll see it coming, that’s for sure – but it might only be a blur. It’s designed to have ‘on-road capability’, so BMW has made it clear this is first and foremost a racetrack weapon. Motorsport-derived technology includes plenty of lightweight titanium and carbon fibre, and a beefed-up version of the standard M3’s V8. The GTS engine is uprated from 3,999cc to 4,361cc, power is up from 420hp to 450hp, and an extra 40Nm of torque makes 440Nm.
Due to start production for the UK in 2011, prices have yet to be announced, but don’t expect it to be cheap. One thing’s for sure though: it will be monstrously fast. |
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Volvo is claiming that the all-new S60 coupé is the sportiest Volvo ever. No small boast when you consider some of the exhilaratingly and startlingly high-performance machines in the company’s recent history. It’s no coincidence that the police themselves still choose Volvos as their do-it-all hot pursuit vehicles.
Note, though, that the manufacturer has chosen the adjective ‘sporty’ rather than ‘brutal’, ‘powerful’ or ‘aggressive’. That’s because this lovely coupé isn’t intended to compete with some of the similarly sized but far more potent Germans creations, such as the BMW M3 or Audi’s RS5, in terms of horsepower, but rather to make a more subtle and elegant statement.
It’s certainly a thing of beauty – sporting in a graceful and lithe way, and by no means slow, judging from the figures quoted for its forthcoming range of diesel or petrol engines.
As with the Aston Martin, it’s too soon to predict prices, but the first models will be delivered to customers early this summer. |
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Perceptive readers will recall how, in this very magazine, we sang the praises of the little Toyota iQ a few months ago. Those same perceptive people will also notice that this new Aston Martin looks curiously familiar.
Before you start excitedly thinking you can buy a new Aston for the price of the micro-Toyota, do bear in mind that this new collaboration between the two manufacturers has created something rather more upmarket than the city runabout it’s based on.
Maybe it doesn’t have the V12 engine you might expect from Aston Martin, but it does have the unmistakable styling and craftsmanship, inside and out, to make it a little special. The little 1.3 offers CO2 emissions of 110g/km and combined fuel economy of 58.9 mpg, with 98bhp – ideal for dashing up to four ever-so-stylish people through the city streets.
Prices are yet to be announced, but expect it to be reassuringly expensive, and only available to existing Aston Martin customers. So if you’re not one of those, you’ll have to pay well over a hundred grand and get a nice sports car thrown in! |
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Has it really been 20 years?
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When it comes to sports cars, in terms of sheer popularity the Mazda MX-5 is simply untouchable. It’s easy to forget that the Japanese roadster is now approaching its 20th birthday, but having sold in the millions over that time, it deserves to be called a modern classic.
To celebrate its two decades of global success, Mazda is this year bringing a 20th Anniversary Limited Edition model to Europe, to take sports car fans back to the basics of open-top driving. Never expensive, overcomplicated or hugely powerful, the MX-5 has always been renowned among true car connoisseurs as a sublime and pure driving experience.
This new, ultra-rare version (only 2,000 will be made) will be based on the 1.8-litre SE. Extras will include a stainless-steel step plate with an inscribed unique serial number, extra chrome trim and interior detailing, special 17-inch wheels, and anniversary logos. Its suspension will also be beefed up for an enhanced, sporty and exhilarating ride.
Prices are yet to be announced, but expect to pay comfortably under £20,000.
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Citroën has made a bold move in bringing back the legendary DS badge for 2010. The original DS from the 50s and 60s has been voted the most beautiful car ever, and owners past and present have included some of the most illustrious paragons of good taste, such as President Charles De Gaulle, Alec Guinness, Peter Cook and Will Self.
The French carmaker has not yet dared go so far as to create a reinterpretation of the big, iconic classic – instead it’s using the upmarket connotations of the two letters to make an ambitious statement about its new range. Other bigger models, the DS4 and DS5, are to follow, both of which are designed to move away from Citroën’s cheap and cheerful heartland of today, and to compete with posher rivals.
The first, a small hatch called DS3, will go up against the premium competitors of its size – the likes of the Mini, Fiat 500 and Alfa Romeo Mito. The range of petrol and diesel DS3s will go on sale this spring, priced from around £12,500.
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