October 2008

Thanks to Quantum of Solace, James Bond fever has been sweeping the nation, so we thought we'd look at some cars in keeping with her Majesty's finest super spy, yes, that's right, the Ford Mondeo and the all new Ford Ka. OK, that's not true, despite Ford getting a bite of the product placement pie in both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, Bond isn't a family saloon or miniature runabout kind of guy. He's all about power, finesse, power, speed, power and price. He's all about super cars.

To emulate Bond, you obviously have to go for an Aston Martin. Recently he's been pottering about (at speeds approaching 200mph) in the sporty version of the DB9, the DBS (£130,000). The DBS offers a refined attitude to ultra performance motoring. Porsche and Audi offer a similar out look, but opt for engineering over style. Porsche's 911 has been around since the dawn of time barely changing its appearance or driving characteristics: bubble headlights, flared wheel arches, tyres as wide as train tracks and fantastic handling and balance. With a new 4 wheel drive version (the Carrera 4 S, £75,000) the grip is such that your brain will squeeze out of your ear before the car slips off the road in a corner. Late comers to the super car party, Audi's R8 (£76,000) goes up against the Porsche. The R8 is like a TT on steroids, the styling isn't ground breaking but the cabin is packed with gadgets and the performance is superb.

Having a refined, well equipped, technically brilliant super car is all very well, but super cars are about embracing the crazy side of performance motoring. Lamborghinis, historically, were frankly mental. Since being taken over by Audi they've tamed the ridiculous styling, slightly, and embraced a new out look, one that's seen their profits soar. The Gallardo (£145,000) and its bigger brother, the Murcielago (£215,000), are the proof of the pudding. Both offer ridiculous power, striking styling, top speeds to make your ears bleed and quite literally nowhere to put your golf clubs. Mercedes' flagship super car, the McLaren SLR (£326,000), is one of the few front engined cars to offer speeds over 200mph. It doesn't look like a super car, but get behind the wheel of this 'tourer' and put your foot down, you'll soon understand the insanity. Just don't expect to easily get round any corners.

We've had practical, slightly crazy, but to do it properly it's time to go down right bonkers. These cars are literally waiting to smash you into a lamp post. One of the most crazy is the Aerial Atom (£23,000). Not like your normal super car, this is literally a chassis, 4 wheels, an engine and a steering wheel. Radio? No. Air-con? No. Windscreen? No. Capable of hitting 60 in 3.5 seconds it handles like a racing car. Brilliant madness. The Ascari A10, on the other hand, is a hand-made British car that has more power than an air craft carrier. For a mere £400,000 you can tootle to the shops at 215 mph, making more noise than a fog horn convention. The handling is incredible, but don't expect sat nav, or a stereo. In a similar vein is the equally barking Koenigsegg CCX (£430,000 minus any extras like traction control, which you'll need). A Swedish speed machine that will literally make you scream in horror as you approach the top speed of 250mph. This is all about power, it does go round corners but if you're not Nigel Mansell you'll be plummeting into the hedgerows of the country lanes in no time.

The ultimate super car though is obviously the 1,001 bhp Bugatti Veyron. It costs nigh on a million pounds, will cruise up to 250mph without threatening to take off and is as comfortable as sitting on a giant beanbag. A truly wondrous example of engineering meeting design and performance that smashed all benchmarks. There's only a few around in the world though, so even if you've got the cash your chances of finding one in Auto-Trader are pretty slim.