LIVE AND LET DRIVE
Raring to go after weeks under lockdown, Philip Astor takes to Norfolk’s wide open roads in Bond-worthy style
I’ve been like a coiled spring these past six months. So diligently have we followed the government’s restrictions that I have hardly ventured out of our parochial bubble in South Norfolk. But all that time I have been itching to get back behind the wheel of a serious motor car, and – sad though it might sound from a man now in his sixties – burn some rubber.
My patience was finally rewarded in the shape of BMW’S range-topping M8 Competition Gran Coupé, which was delivered in one of those enclosed transporters that they use for Formula 1 cars. A promising start, and this car unquestionably ticks many boxes: it’s a sleek fourdoor, four-seat, luxury grand tourer that offers stellar performance, despite weighing nearly two tonnes. The twinturbocharged, 4.4-litre V8 engine produces 625 bhp (for the sake of comparison, the 850csi, the most powerful model from the previous BMW 8 Series in the 1990s, produced 380 bhp). The increased horsepower can propel this new M8 from 0 to 62mph in just 3.2 seconds; unsurprisingly, it is currently the fastest road car (in company with its two-door sibling) that BMW produces.
In other words, it was perfect for exploring the expansive and inviting roads of Norfolk, starting with the Anish Kapoor exhibition at Houghton Hall, which was at the top of my list of destinations post-lockdown. Houghton is right at the other end of this huge county, but long distances are anything but burdensome in the BMW, and are made all the more pleasurable by the bespoke Bowers & Wilkins surround-sound system that came as an option in my car. Its 16 sophisticated speakers, lurking behind handsome aluminium casings, ensured that my favourite live performer, Neil Diamond (yes, I am a proud veteran of Woburn ’77), had never sounded so good.
As for the Kapoor show, it was spellbinding; in particular, the circular Sky Mirror – five metres in diameter of highly polished steel – which thrillingly reflected the immensity of the blue dome above me. The Houghton season has now ended, but even without Kapoor, the venue will still be worth a trip next year for its sublime gardens, home to a collection of contemporary sculpture and landscape art (notably Richard Long, James Turrell and Henry Moore) that must be unrivalled in the country; certainly when seen in conjunction with one of our most beautiful Palladian mansions.
I had travelled alone, as my regular driving companion (aka my wife) was busy finishing her latest book. But I did manage to take her out for a spin, if only to solicit her expert assessment of the M8’s styling and personality. Thanks to her oh-so-fashionable life when she used to edit this magazine’s sister publication, Harper’s Bazaar, she would customarily suggest a celebrity name to define any car I was testing. She compared one to Cate Blanchett, for example; others to sundry supermodels. For the first time, in the case of the M8 Gran Coupé, Justine volunteered a male name: Daniel Craig, she said without hesitation. Yes, the rear end and front grille look pretty aggressive, and there’s plenty of sporty carbon detailing, for example along the length of the roof, and on the wing mirrors and rear spoiler. But Justine’s judgement was that the car, like Craig and/or James Bond, was handsome, masculine, classy, sophisticated and dignified. I certainly wouldn’t demur.
Regular readers will recall that Justine is very particular when it comes to comfort; the M8 passed with flying colours. As for speed, she usually lets out a scream when – as of course I must – I put my foot down to test a car’s acceleration. Astonishingly, despite the M8’s phenomenal torque, this time there was hardly a whimper. So besides the other competitions that I am sure BMW will win with this model, it seems to have solved a perennial conundrum in my family: to find a car that not only gives me pleasure, but that my wife could live with too. BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupé, from £122,045 (www.bmw. co.uk).