And Britain’s vanguard stalwarts deserve no less admiration, as our 2018 verdict of the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera demonstrates: “This is a big, powerful, elegant, front-engined, 12-cylinder, blood-and-thunder GT alike in concept to so many we’ve known and loved from Aston Martin.
“But it’s also such a stunning one to behold, and so stellar to drive in its singularly enriching and enticing, occasion-cherishing, long-distance mould, that it sets a new standard for its maker.”
Foreign friends
As it would be remiss to not mention Essex Fords when discussing the finest British cars, so too would it be to ignore the products today turned out by our countrymen bearing Japanese badges.
Since the 1980s and 1990s respectively, following the demise of the nation’s dire British Leyland conglomerate, Nissan and Toyota have been providing Britain with reliable, affordable machinery – and in the case of the former, changing the world a few times.
When the Qashqai arrived in 2007, we said: “This is a capable, likeable and interesting hatchback with excellent levels of refinement that offers a refreshingly different approach to family transport.”
And boy, did the public agree, not just here but everywhere: this Cranfield-designed, Sunderland-built car is the reason why almost every mainstream model today is taller than traditionalists consider proper.
