Iconic Films
2 for 1 tickets to Casablanca, this coming Monday
Navigation - link to other main sections from here
Aston Martin DB9
Please sir, can I have one of these?
For some time now I’ve been a worried man. It was obvious from the photographs that Aston Martin’s new DB9 would be pretty, but would it be the epitome of Britishness? Would it be a steel and wooden fist in a leather glove? Would it be an Aston Martin?
The evidence didn’t look good. The factory these days looks like a UN convention. It’s owned by the Americans, the chief stylist is Danish, there’s a Japanese peacekeeper, a token woman and the big cheese is a German doctor called Ulrich Bez.
He popped round for coffee this morning to try to allay my fears but, to begin with, did no such thing. For half an hour he talked in microscopic detail about how the car is built. I learnt how everything from the firewall backwards is glued together using a Norwegian system, and how the front is held on with bolts. I learnt about the composition of every single panel and I thought, oh no. I’m going to be here until I die.
He wasn’t finished. For the next half hour I had a lecture on the gearbox. Unlike the “Wankwish” — that’s what he calls the Vanquish — the paddles behind the steering wheel operate an automatic box rather than a manual. This is better, he says, because with the Wankwish system you have to concentrate all the time on changing gear. If you do not, the gearbox breaks.
Then we got to the engine and I needed more coffee to stay awake. It is the same 6 litre V12 that you get in the Wankwish but the UN delegation from Botswana has fiddled with the on-board computer to make it a little more relaxed. Naturally, Bez gave me chapter and verse on all the hows and whys.
This is the problem with the Germans. They like to analyse, with flip charts, every single detail of every single part of the car. That’s fine, but there is a downside, which is plain for all to see on the new 6-series BMW. It’s as boring as hell.
Advertising men will tell you that when it comes to cars they need to attach a single word to the brand. So if you want a “safe” car you buy a Volvo. If you want a “reliable” car, you buy a Volkswagen. And if you have a small “penis” you buy a BMW.
It’s not just brands either. There are single words that describe the national characteristics of a car too. A German car is “engineered”. A French car is “soft” and an Italian car is “exuberant”.
I’ve always felt that a British car is “traditional”. We, as a nation, don’t like change. When the submarine was invented, for instance, the navy top brass dismissed it as “underhand and ungentlemanly” and we see the same sort of thing with our cars. They all hark back to the Blower Bentley, which set the scene by being big, heavy, powerful and green.
Everything from the Bristol to the Allegro Vanden Plas and from the old Aston Vantage to the Jaguar XJ6 looked like a Spitfire from the outside and a Harvester pub on the inside. Lots of dark colours, lots of heavy wood and very little natural light. Given half a chance the British car designer would fit an open fire instead of a heater, and some horse brasses.
“Pah,” said Bez. “Of course tourists still come here to see the Queen and the changing of the guard but the country has changed. You’ve got the London Symphony Orchestra and Gieves & Hawkes. What they are doing now is not what they were doing 10 years ago.”
He says that the tradition in Britain is for discipline. “You can see this with your armed forces” — he’d know — “but discipline isn’t enough now. Look at your football team. You can discipline them all you like but you need creativity and flair as well. That’s what David Beckham brings.” Again, after the 5-1 drubbing, he’d know about that too.
But still, I was alarmed. Because he was arguing that the DB9 should be like Tate Modern, which I think is as British as a coffee shop in Zurich. Pale woods, neat design and zinc are European, which is fine if you’re making furniture, but it’s not British. It’s not spotted dick and big thick custard. It’s not the library at Blenheim Palace. Heavy, dark, and a bit damp.
Eventually we ended the discussion and I was taken outside to see the car. It’s not as pretty or as dainty as the old DB7, but even so it’s still agonisingly, knee-tremblingly, good looking. Let me put it this way. The DB7 was like Liz Hurley. Classically good looking in a feminine sort of way. The DB9 is more like George Clooney.
Then I opened the door and relief washed over me like waves on a Caribbean shore. The dash, the carpets and the seats were finished in what can only be described as placenta red. It didn’t go at all with the wood and the metal. Joy of joys. It was still like a pub in there, and not an airport departure lounge.
Better still, the controls for the electric seats look like I’d made them and the power steering pump juddered as I turned the wheel. Bez had a terribly British excuse for this. “Oh they all do that,” he said. But he said it in such a way that I suspect the man responsible has been shot.
He also suggested that there will be no judder on the cars people actually buy, and pointed out you don’t have to have an interior the colour of an afterbirth.
So I turned the key, pressed the starter, pushed a button to engage drive, set off, and on the first corner knew, with absolute certainty, I was in an Aston.
When you turn the wheel in a Ferrari it communicates with the front tyres using telepathy. The whole car lets you know that it could flow from bend to bend whether you were there or not. In the DB9, however, you are made to feel like part of the equation. You have to manhandle the nose into the apex, so when you kiss it perfectly, and you will, because this car handles like a dream, you feel like it was all down to you. That makes you feel good.
Coming out of the corner you floor the throttle and the exhaust makes a perfectly judged snarl as 450bhp hits the gearbox, which is mounted at the back for better weight distribution. It’s not so loud that it’s wearing, but not so quiet that you think you’ve bought a washing machine by mistake.
The ride also strikes a perfect balance.
A 20-year-old would say it’s too soft. A 70-year-old would say it’s too hard. But for the fortysomethings who’ll actually buy the thing, it steers a Radio 2 course right down the middle.
You can feel, when you push, the outside rear wheel scrabbling for grip — you really can feel it through your trousers — but when you fly over a crest on a British B-road, the nose does not smash into the tarmac with a sickening thud.
And boy oh boy is it fast. The figures say it will go from 0 to 60 in 4.9sec and on to a top speed of 186, but actually, as you snarl and roar through the countryside, it feels even faster than that.
Once, I was given the controls of a world war two P51 fighter. That thing danced and jinked like no machine I’d ever been in, and all the time there was a glorious roar from the Merlin engine. Well, that’s what the DB9 feels like. Like a fighter. Like everything mankind knows about excitement and machinery and technology has finally come together in an orgasm of absolute, thrilling and total harmony.
And yet. Inside you have a Volvo satellite navigation system that works, you have a stereo system which looks and sounds as good as anything from Quad, and you have space to move too. The back’s a bit cramped, even if you’re Douglas Bader, but the front is massive.
So Bez — may God smile on him and all his family — has done it. He’s kept the traditional qualities of a British car but blended them with German engineering to create a party in the park. An old fashioned setting, but a whole new sound.
As a result he’s ended up with a car for which only one word will do. If you want a “fast” car, buy a Ferrari. If you want a “Volkswagen”, buy a Bentley Continental GT.
If you want a “perfect” car, you simply have to have a DB9.
VITAL STATISTICS
Model: Aston Martin DB9
Engine type: V12, 5935cc
Power: 450bhp @ 6000rpm
Torque: 420lb ft @ 5000rpm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Suspension: Independent coil springs, double wishbones, anti-roll bar
Tyres: (front) 235/40 ZR 19 (rear) 275/35 ZR 19
Fuel: 17.1mpg (combined)
Acceleration: 0-60mph: 4.9sec
Top speed: 186mph-plus
Price: £103,000
Verdict: The union of everything man knows about technology, machinery
and excitement... with a pub interior
I am glad I am not the only person who notices the Aston’s handbrake stays on when I could have sworn that I had taken it off. I usually wind up blaming myself for not doing the ratchet thingy properly.
Jack Yan, Wellington, New Zealand
From personal experience I have to agree with Jeremy when he says "The only people who can’t navigate instinctively are women". I once had an otherwise intelligent girlfriend who thought she was driving North when going uphill, and South when driving downhill. She looked at me like I was crazy when I said that you could use the position of the sun to navigate.
Aidan, Belfast,
Get with it, any modern woman with style shaves down there anyway.
Ross
Ross, Perth, WA
compared to the vanquish, the vantage is just plain ugly - look at the front of it!
Mr T, London,
It must be awfully nice to have the experience to make the comparison.
Barry Milner, Christchurch, New Zealand
" I can only presume this is because everyone who has an opinion on the matter is busy doing a three-point turn in Stroud railway station car park, unable to find any road that actually leaves the town."
So true.....
Arum Devereux, TOTNES (Formerly Stroud), Devon
I can only say that if you think the UK is badly signposted, then you should try Catalunya. In order to go to, for example Granollers from the Barcelona ring road, you get 1 signpost. You then are expected to make 4 turns without the least indication before you reach one of Catalunya's most important non-motorway raoads. You guys in the UK have got it easy.
Colin Gorton, Arbucies, Girona, Spain
Dear Jeremy,
As an ex Citroen owner and fan, I note that you keep refering to the DS series as a comparison to the C6, but I would suggest that the basic shape-contours is a re-vival of my all time favourite Citroen, even with all its little quirks, the rear screen, being one of them. Please recall the
original CX, My Wife had a 2500 Auto, and I had a number of
2500 petrol and diesel, which I returned to their original glory, and sold on. The C6 is a rebirth of the CX, but with a load of updated modifications, It looked good then, but look at it now.!!!!!!!! WOW!!! Well done Citroen, I for one, applaud you for having the GUTS to bring back that shape that was, and still is way in front of it's time.
David Harris, Ironbridge, Telford., Shropshire, England.
Hi Jeremy,
Just started reading your articles on this site. A friend of ours in Wiltshire went from A to B in her Peugeot 206 (with Sat-Nav) and it took her about2 1/2 hours to do a 30 minute journey. When asked what the problem was, her reply was "Well the Sat-Nav to me which way to go, but I knew it was telling me the wrong way."
But still she followed it!!!
Paul, Devizes, Wiltshire, UK
Sorry only got to read this article recently. A couple of things come to mind.
Lets be realistic here - what are the chances of a Satnav system working at all in Italy? More chance of Clarkson surendering his driving licence to the DVLC on the grounds of "loss of interest" On the other hand and rather more personally if I was fortunate e to own an Aston V8 Vantage Roadster I would program the satnav (preumably with a very deep sexy female voice) to take me the longest possible route between two points. What is the point of owning such a car and spending as little time in it as possible. We are not talking Ford Mondeo late for a sales meeting here. As for using the Aston as time critical transport to Milans second airport (which is only allowed to play airports when Linate is foggy) you should be ashamed. Where oh where in any of the marketing material (or even in your devilish imagination) does it say anything whatsover about getting to airports faster than local taxi driver
Robert Wakefield, Manama, Bahrain
I've driven in Malaysia with a Singapore purchased BMW and Sat Nav. It only showed the north south highway which ended just before Thailand and said I was in the sea when driving in Penang.
i disagree with Clarkson on using the sun to navigate.
Most of the time in England you cant see the sun.
When I lived in England 10 years ago I used to use satellite dishes to Navigate (they almost all point south to the equator except for the odd one pointing to some obscure porn satellite over Amsterdam). The problem is now more people have cable. I think cable TV was a plot to sell Sat Nav. The only Satellite dishes left are on council estates which presumably are there to help you get home after buy crack.
Having spent two hours driving round north London last week trying to get to Oxford only to go back through the road junction I started from I think the answer is for all city centre road signs to have N, E, W, or S on them. Or get rid of cable.
Mike Smith, Oxford, UK
Hi Jeremy. This is unbeliveably the first time I have read your column in the Sunday Times and it was the issue about the Aston Martin Vantage on July 15th. Another amazing fact was that I was in Southern Ireland!
The column made me laugh and to think that noone had bothered to Email their stories!!
The signposts in Ireland are worth visiting. They are either crammed with dozens of signs on one pole or the signpost is just not there so you end up going round in circles!
Thought you might like to visit the area around Cork-that seemed to be the 'best'!!
Thanks for a great read anyhow
Michael Thomas, Reading, Berks
You think it's bad? Try driving in Malaysia. The signposts are put up behind trees and the ones for exits are put after AFTER the exits.
Abdul Hamid, KL, Malaysia
....Richard IS a Bright Bloke too!!!.........
anna, UK,
I'm italian and my family still live near Malpensa Airport: I can only confirm that, even for us and specially after few beers or wine, is not so easy to find the way to the airport, which is very good but very badly connected to the rest of the world!
Matteo Tisi, London, UK
If you've never been lost in France then you've never visited Dol in Brittany. Trying to leave town I hit a roundabout with two choices:
"Toutes directions" and "Autre directions". Priceless! By getting lost though I found a farm which sold the best organic garlic I've ever tasted.
Phil Batten, Haslemere, UK
It is vital for the future of our once great city that Jeremy Clarkson runs for Mayor of London
Michael Kitterhing, London, England
In my experience Jeremy - and obviously not yours- supermodels do not have pubic hair problems - shaved completely clean and tidy - no need for a toothpick! Expensive and cranky but pubeless never the less!
Frank Kydd, Wilmington , DE US
Having followed many signs "To City Centre" I have never found one that says "City Centre" (you have arrived)
Henry GB, Brampton, Cumbria
Back in the 60s, my father would often get lost in the congested labyrinth that was (and is) Bristol's road system. The city plonkers liked to provide two or three direction signs to Bath, or wherever one was going, and then miss out the next junction where you were supposed to turn left. How they must have laughed!
Imagine my lack of surprise when I returned to Bristol earlier this year and found that they still do exactly the same thing. Two or three signs and then you have to guess which direction to go by studying the unequal growth of lichen on the nearest pillar box.
Frank Upton, Solihull,
Sat nav? I would have killed for one last Sunday. Coming home from Dundee, the M80 southbound was closed due to an accident. So everyone was forced to leave the motorway...and go...where? No diversion signs, no police anywhere to be seen, no road signs giving any indication of how to get anywhere other than back up north (which is the direction all the southbound traffic was being channeled in!) Eventually found a petrol station in the middle of nowhere, at which another motorist asked me how to get to England, and I couldn't tell him... Took me an extra hour and a half to get home, no traffic news on the radio, nobody to ask, no signposts of any use whatsoever, not even the sun to guide me.
Viva la Tomtom...
Neil S, Glasgow, Scotland
Who's going to tell the american he's not entitled to comment on the beauty of a car? ok I will... stop it!
And as for your grid system... it's very practicle.. sensible even, and it makes life much easier... but if we adhered to such principles, life would be so dull... and we'd all live in apartment blocks and drive Ford
Leigh, Cardiff, UK
Having driven for a living and now still driving in retirement I can tell JC that the reason he had no reaction to the signage problem is because the problem doesnt exsist at least not to the extent he makes out. His item which generated the comment demonstrated his inability to navigate himself, getting lost half a dozen times on a relatively short journey. Now demonstrating his lack of skill in Italy to knock signing in the UK.... wot dat about? He is probably too busy staring at his own navel to read signs or perhaps driving with his eyes shut in extasy listening to a V8.
mike gee, bournemouth, uk
We resort-town residents can spot the occasional Aston parked at one of the nicer restaurants, sometime during the winter. What surprised last winter, was the presence of several highly social Maseratis, flittering around the restaurants and the Flamingo Salon.
Thinking of resort, the snorkeling at Pepper Park reef was lovely this morning, with even a nurse shark. Could a couple of nice Brits drive over to enliven the soggy summer doldrums?
Dave, Vero Beach, Florida
The V8 does179mph and 0-60 in4.9 seconds and J C says it's not fast! Is Clarkson beginning to believe he is the other J C and becoming delusional?
Mike Cole, Hayling Island, England
Im fortunate to have a V8 Vantage and agree with Jeremy, its so pretty you'll forgive it anything. My little issues are the fact that the boot lid , when wet, lets all the water run into the boot when you open it and also that the Bluetooth is out of date - ie any new phone wont work on it !! but hey the sound when you put your foot down set a new record for the Worlds most inane grin and the after sales service is second to none. Dont mess around with Porsche ,expensive BMW's or gangsta/West Ham footballers Baby Bentleys, the Aston is the car that makes you feel real good about yourself and turns heads in the street.
DJ, Sidcup, England
Every time I venture out in my car I wonder where everyone learned to drive one handed with their right hand at 10 o'clock on the steering wheel. They sit "up" to the steering wheel and if they straightened their arms then their elbows would probably touch the steering wheel. What happened to the shoulders on the seat back arms straight out so your wrists rest on the wheel ay 11 and 1 o'clock respectively. Drop your hands to 10 and 2 for a balanced safe and comfortable driving position. Thats what I was taught 30 + years ago.
The same people also belong to the CLOC (Centre kane Owners Club and "inhabit" the centre lanes of motorways with mirrors that they cannot see out, or simply just do not use. The second habit, the CLOCs is an irritantant but the first is a dangerous practice and must contribute to accidents as the drivers do not have control of the steering in an emergency.
Oh and dont start me off on the blatant parking on double yellow lines habit of Cheltenham motorists!!!
Chris Holmes, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
"The only people who can’t navigate instinctively are women and anyone trying to find Malpensa airport in Milan."
Can we assume, then, that James May is perfectly capable of navigating instinctively and therefore cannot get lost en route to the Top Gear studios?
Victor Wong, Ottawa, Canada
Thank you Jeremy for offending my delicate sensiblilities by quoting that all women are not capable of navigation by their senses. I do not own a sat nav only an A-Z which I love. I can read a map and have a good sense of direction. Please don't lump all women in the same light. (Although I must admit to bad parking when PMT!!!!!) I am not perfect but then again who is!
Please start a campaign agains Nissan Micra drivers they are a blight on our roads.
Tara, London, England
What's wrong with looking at a map or A-Z before setting off on an unfamiliar journey? Has everyone forgotten what life was like before Sat Nav?
Sat Nav is for inanely stupid lazy gadget people - the sort of person that has an electronic organiser or a blackberry.
I work in IT and cannot for the life of me see the point of any of this crap. I have had tossy city traders screaming at me cos there Blackberry won't sync with there PC's....????
I've got a laptop and an Ipod and a bluetooth connection in my car for my phone but i don't rely on any of it and i certianly don't need any of them to get me through my day. The people that do, really need to get back to basics cos if evolution takes hold, in 50 years time, humans will be zombified, numb, common senseless robot like things with no sense of direction. If there is an electromagnetic pulse people will start walking or driving into lamposts and walls.
The car is very pretty tho.
james parkin, London, UK
Last time I got lost, my brother, who was navigating, held the map up-side-down.
Ever tried to get to IKEA in Ashton under Lyme? When you come off the M60, you have to keep on the left, but the sign is on the right-hand side of the road, and if you can read it, you're on the wrong side of the road, and you'd have to get across 2 more lanes and a traffic island to get back on track. Meanwhile, if you decide all is lost (since you can't drive across the traffic island), you end up in Ashton centre, with no way of getting to IKEA from there.
I wonder where the myth that women can't navigate comes from? I've not noticed any difference between the sexes, really (except for my stupid brother).
starling, Lancaster,
Jeremy, you think signposting in Britain is bad? Well, you're spoilt. You should try finding your way around Dublin or rural Ireland. I bet you wouldn't complain too much about the signage in Britain after that.
David, Dublin, Ireland
The most infuriating signs are those which tell you "new road layout ahead". These are only relevant if you knew what the old layout was but still sem to cause endless confusion to everyone over the age of 50, except me of course. All Honda and Kia drivers stop and stare at the new sign for ten minutes doing God knows how much damage to the planet.
Rob, Canterbury,
We have millions of steel posts sitting on the side of the roads of Britain, with signs bolted to them, and they tell us everything. When the road is slippy for 2 miles because the tight fisted government won't pay for 200 gallons of hot tar and five tons of grit to be put down on the hottest day of the year , to take the shine off it. They tell us that there is a ford two miles down a narrow lane that only an idiot with a 40 tonne truck would use as a short cut to get to a supermarket 10 miles away.
However when you need to know something important, the signage doesn't tell you. You arrive at a junction after being diverted, do you go left or right ? Get out yer sextant ! Probably that's because the department responsible employs morons who probably ride bikes and are too busy saving the b.........planet !
Phil de Buquet, Newport, England
I have never been lost whilst driving in the UK. Done quite a bit of unscheduled sightseeing though.
Jeff Baird, Angmering, West Sussex
The reason why I did not comment on the article about Britain's badly signposted roads is because I was lost for appropriate words. I have done extensive driving all across the Europe, Arabia and Africa, and I have never come across such infuriating signposting as we seem to have here. A common fault is that if you happen to be lucky enough to find a signpost to where you're heading, it peters out about 5 miles short of your destination, presumably on the premise 'well, everyone knows where that is" They don't. One reason for this may be that local authorities no longer have control over their roads, power having passed to the Highways Authority whose local knowledge is on the sparse side. And why are the AA and RAC so supine about this state of affairs? They are supposed to be on our side aren't they?
(PS. I love all Aston Martins, unruly pubes notwithstanding)
Nicholas Lee, Windsor, UK
Can't find Malpensa airport? Take the TRAIN from central Milan! You'll be there in about 40 mins--about 60kph which isn't fast but you won't get lost.
bt, singapore,
The laws of physics are suspended in relation to anyone attempting to leave Palau, Sardinia in a rented Citroen regardless of whether they are using maps satnav or intuition. For anyone going there you need to go the wrong way down the one-way street, across the curb, through a bush and a (quaint) market then use the grass bank to do a jump across the train tracks. It took me nearly a week to figure that out. I never want to see a pesto panini again.
Jo, London, UK
Never mind getting lost, we have a hypocritical government that on one hand blathers on and on about global warming and CO2, and then on the other has a road policy (Dartford crossing, M25, speed humps, traffic calming) that causes miles of stationary cars belching out CO2 for nothing. I'm so pleased they're planning congestion charging based around this model...
Daniel Jeffery, Chelmsford, Essex
The sat nav isn't the only failure. How many times have you followed the road signs only to have the ctirical one missing or rendered invisible due to uncut foliage. Looking at your "lost miles" survey result, any council wanting to extend its green credentials could do worse than start with accurate signposting and maintenance.
KR, Stockport,
I've not tried to find Milan airport, but it sounds remarkably similar to the Rome ringroad. I think whoever designed it was numerically dyslexic - I swear, in all honesty, junction 31 is followed by 26, which is followed by 30.
I think they let his Brummie cousin do Coventry's effort.
Russell Gowers, Cirencester, UK
Jeremy either hasnt noticed or doesnt care that the Jaguar XKR was given the 1990's Ford generic front (grill and lights) - this £60K car apparently takes pride in its family connections with low price Ford saloons - even vans?
Bob , London, UK
Jeremy should know that my instinctive navigation is second to none. And I am a woman. But perhaps Jeremy only associates with lesser women.
Ruth Clarke, Paris, France
If the Aston Martin is so pretty, what is the ugly car in the picture then?
n.a., SW Oregon, USA
Why not survey the most difficult airports in Europe to find when driving. My money is on Budapest.
Mike Stradling, London ,
To:' Steve, Kidderminster': I have never gotten lost in France. Their roads are of a good quality and they are well sign posted. The Brits & the Belgians could learn fron the French!!
Chantel, UK,
Several years ago my wife and I were trying to find our way south out of Glastonbury. Because of non existent signage, we found ourselves some 30 odd miles later heading north (she was doing the navigating and I trusted her) just outside of Cheddar. Of course we had to turn around and did so coincidentally (true story) in the driveway of a place called "Home for the Confused".
Rod McNae, Langley, Washington
Rod McNae, Langley, WA
Several years ago my wife and I were trying to find our way south out of Glastonbury. Because of non existent signage, we found ourselves some 30 odd miles later heading north (she was doing the navigating and I trusted her) just outside of Cheddar. Of course we had to turn around and did so coincidentally (true story) in the driveway of a place called "Home for the Confused".
Rod McNae, Langley, WA
Here in California, one can ask the dealer for the optional but free identification plaque when taking delivery of a new Aston Martin. It's heavily chromed brass, mounts on the rear bumper, and is beautifully engraved with the legend "All parts falling off this car are of the finest British workmanship"!
Howard, Woodland Hills, California / USA
If you think the UK roads are badly signposted then how how the French ones eh ??
Sat-Nav in Paris to Paris CDG - you must be joking. The software is specially written to direct you not to CDG but to a car park - in a forest ! I know, I've proved it.
Steve, Kidderminster,
In my most humble of opinions, the Jag XKR cabrio and this car are the two most beautiful cars in the world.
And using the words "unruly pubes" in an article about a car is pure art.
Thank you, Mr. Clarkson.
Gus, Los Angeles, USA / CA
You should see what we have to put up with in Japan. Two roads with the same number in the same area that have no connection with each other. You definately have to break out the compass and use dead reckoning here. Problem is on the Subway, electromagnetic induction tends to throw the compass.
Andrew Milner, Karuizawa, Nagano
The trick with road signs - is to ignore them. I do and I never, ever (very rarely) get lost or confused (at least no more than I am most days trying to understand this tossed up salad of a world we live in).
Most road signs are put there by the AA or English heritage to stop coach drivers depositing visiting tourists in the Mersey (though why I don't know). Either that or they are busy telling you not to do something long after you have done it - or are telling you about things you might like to do in future if you are ever mad enough to pass the same way twice and have time to pull over and read the detail.
So just drive by with a cheery wave when you see any sign other than the really big red ones that look dangerous - they sometime help you avoid death, so its worth slowing down even if you don't understand what the curly bit with the wiggle on the left and an exclamation mark over what looks like a toaster really means.
Happy driving.
Huw Sayer, Norwich, England
Jeremy, I 'd get lost with you anytime, anywhere. We might even get somewhere as my Italian is better than yours. "Vieni qui, Marcello!!". Byyyyyyeeeeee!!! Glenda
elizabeth schumann, Paris, France
Jeremy tends to like cars that are flashy and powerful but just don't go with his own image, so I can imagine that he would look a bit of a "sad" figure in it, but that tends to be the case most of the time with sport or super cars. With hair and face like that he would look better in a Volvo.
Jonathan, London, U.K.
So you've managed to find your way out of the station car?
Fifteen years on and I'm still trying!
Jonathan, Nags Head, Gloucestershire
Yet another case for the US grid setup when it comes to navigation? I think so...
On the Aston, I have to agree. All of the small things aren't enough to distract one from the awesome beauty both in style and sound of the Aston. I was fortunate enough to see several coupes when on vacation in Miami recently, and my God are they just some of the most wonderful cars you will ever see. Well, you hear them first, then you see them.
The Aston V8 Vantage, in any form, is proof that God exists. Only he could bestow a car with so much beauty upon mankind. And truth be told, only the British could build it.
Brad Y, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
People of the world, only buy this car if you are British, and if your name is James Bond! For the cars sake PLEASE!
glyn, cardiff, Wales
People of the world, only buy this car if you are British, and if your name is James Bond! For the cars sake PLEASE!
glyn, cardiff, Wales