The thunderous GT2 RS is not the first car to send me to motoring heaven...

1 McLAREN F1 This really is the greatest car of all time. Anyone who knows anything about cars agrees. Universally. Designer Gordon Murray’s vision of what was to come, sitting on the shoulders of the legends of the past, is simply unbeatable from a driving point of view. Remember, it came to the market in 1992 with an officially recorded top speed of 242mph, a central driving position and analogue everything. If you’ve been lucky enough to drive an F1, in car terms, you’re done. That’s it. There is no more.

2 NICK MASON’S FERRARI 250 GTO The car that Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason bought in 1974 for £37,500. At the time the guy who sold it to him went home to his wife and declared: ‘I rang the bell today, sweetheart. I sold the Ferrari to a rock star for a fortune.’ The last 250 GTO to come to market (they only made 36) sold for £57 million. Nick still has his. Kerching! But more importantly, he still drives it like he stole it and let me have a go a few years ago around Oulton Park race track. Fingertips only required to steer, a paper-thin aluminium body, a lump of 3-litre V12 engine and a very nervous right foot, on acceleration and braking. It was like dancing with an angel.

3 FERRARI 250 GT SHORT WHEEL BASE CALIFORNIA SPYDER My own car, which used to belong to James Coburn, who bought it after being told to do so by Steve McQueen. I drove it on the Mille Miglia tribute with my wife Natasha acting as a rather superb navigator. We led most of the way – not that it was a race. It remains my most enjoyable driving experience ever. I no longer own the car. I am an idiot.

4 ASTON MARTIN DB4 GT ZAGATO Aston made 19 of these stunners to take on Enzo Ferrari’s 250 SWB’s in the early 1960s. In fairness, they never stood a chance, but it doesn’t mean they’re not amazing to drive. The one I drove was the official Dunlop test car. Tash and I took it on a road trip along the South Coast, one of us in an Aston Martin V12 Vantage, the other in the Zagato. We alternated every couple of hours. Second best road trip of my life. Happy days.

5 FORD GT What a car. Truly worthy of sharing the same moniker with Ford’s original Ferrari killer at Le Mans, back in the mid-1960s. Its striking features include a thrillingly low driving position and a magical floating dashboard that maximises light within the cockpit. It also shares several traits with the new Porsche GT 2 RS: its rawness, its race-pedigree authenticity, its simple but confident and stunning design and, most important of all, it’s the only other modern car my wife has gone properly gaga about.