We asked Geoff from DriveWrite to make the ultimate decision – what is his favourite car ever? And this is what he came up with.
My favourite car? That’s not the easiest question to answer. Different cars have different appeal. Diff’rent strokes for different folks. A quick count-back through the mists of time gives me a total of forty seven vehicles to choose from. Actually it doesn’t because some of them were automotive nightmares. At night I sometimes wake up screaming and bathed in sweat. My wife just grumbles and reminds me that it has been years since I had that Alfa Romeo.
What I want to write about is personal experience and the effect – for enthusiasts – that some cars can have. I once had a Mini Cooper S that I loved and a Cayman that would, even now, be my second favourite motor. Taking delivery of your new wheels in a Porsche dealership is a special experience. ‘All very interesting’, I hear you say, ‘but how about getting to the point’? Fine, if that’s how you want to be. You did ask, after all.
The Jaguar XFR-S is it. I don’t own one and right now my chances of getting one are about the same as Jessica leaving Jenson and throwing herself at my feet. I love this car so much you might want to have a bucket handy. As can be seen from the images, the test car that I had the opportunity to drive was Italian Racing Red and powered by a 5.0L supercharged V8. It’s an understated colour that suits the Jaguar well, although my personal choice would be for the French Racing Blue. It is loaded with safety and aero and the 20” inch wheels are shod with bespoke tyres for a very good reason – but this isn’t about technical excellence; this is about how a car makes you feel.
What really stuns you about the XFR-S is the sheer force of the car. One minute it can be tickling along at the correct speed limit without any sense of what is to come. It can amble with the best of them yet the instant the throttle is engaged with any enthusiasm the whole attitude changes as the car heads for the hills with comprehensive ease. The sensation is staggering. Suddenly, you are the greatest driver in the world. The sensitive paddle-shifts fall ideally under the fingers, the wheel seems to be of just the right diameter and thickness and, when turned, the steering was, for me, perfectly weighted. The brakes are super-powerful and pull the speed back without any unseemly squirming. I have never ever been so exhilarated by a car.
Sure, it’s a very modern car and you’d expect it to be good but the fact is that we look back at our previously prized motors with rose-tinted specs. Cars really are better today than they have ever been; what’s wrong is the way the world is now. We are pressed from all sides by rules and regulations and lorded over by grey suits in grey buildings who have lost the ability to enjoy themselves. Thankfully though car manufacturers are above all that and continue to roll out automobiles that take our breath away. The Jaguar XFR-S is one such car.
