Cars

Just one hour’s drive from Zurich, high above the city, the mountains are now white with snow and the wind swirls with ice crystals. This, truly, is the beast risen from the depths of Lake Walen. Except that instead of crawling from the bowels of the earth, this car was born in the laboratories of BMW M GmbH, in Munich. Every sinew of the muscular bodywork strains to cover massive chromed low-profile wheels. With LED headlamps ablaze, the ‘Phantom Menace’ stalks the German Autobahn like no other.

It’s a competitive business, this luggage capacity, with the three top dogs from Audi, BMW and Mercedes trying to outdo each other on every last cc of bootspace. Taking on such Teutonic dominance – in the luxury estate sector, of all places – is not so much brave, as heroic.

Until then, Maserati is keeping technical details of the new car under wraps. Appearing longer than before (to accommodate rear-seat passengers in greater comfort – important in ‘chauffeur’ markets such as China) the car bears a resemblance to the current QP.

Its styling has been executed under the careful guidance of ex-Pininfarina styling chief, and current Head of the Maserati Design Centre, Lorenzo Ramaciotti.

Movendi managing director Bernhard Kerkloh invited international customers and friends to the opening ceremony, supported by the Automobile Club of Monaco, which took the form of a dinner in an exclusive automotive club atmosphere.

Looking ahead, the future of the Bruges wing of the business is likely to be focused on the purchase and sale of especially rare and high-priced classics, with stock that is the equivalent of a top-level private collection, trading only discreetly. Hence visits to the Bruges premises is by prior arrangement only.

What does an ageing diva do when she longs to be back in the limelight? She wears younger clothes and heads for the gym, then throws herself into the fray with the aim of attracting attention and – it’s hoped – some tempting offers. The RV8 took a leaf from the celebrities’ book when it hit the streets in the early 1990s.

While attention has focused on multi-million-dollar GTOs and Spider Californias, the discreet 250 GTE has always had its enthusiasts. Having spent many years as the ‘starter Ferrari’ or even – heaven forfend! – as a donor car for 250 GT SWB and GTO replicas, the classy 250 GTE is now well-established as a desirable berlinetta in its own right.

Of course, the idea is not a new one – in fact, the memoR looks much like the latest installation in the BMW Art Car series, Jeff Koons' M3 GT2 from 2010. But where the Koons BMW remains a single, unsaleable piece, Hamann intends to offer the psychedelic paint job as a 95,000-euro option for McLaren 12C owners. "Grass green Porsches, neon yellow Lamborghinis and even bright red Ferraris pale in comparison," says Hamann.

Video: Footage by Land Rover, Edited by Kai Klinke for Classic Driver










 

Tranquillity resumed in the cabin as we considered the matter further. Can the all-new Range Rover really be THAT good?

I have to say, having driven it at motorway speeds, in devil-may-care Moroccan town and country traffic, down impossibly steep dunes, up rock beds, across streams and even three-wheeling it through a ravine, that it met every task placed before it with aplomb. It is without doubt the world’s best all-round vehicle. Could we even be in “best car in the world” territory? We could, we could – and here’s why.