Three for the Road
What do a resurrected racing icon, an old-school SUV and a high-tech luxury saloon have in common? The sheer joy of driving.
HOT-LAP TIME MACHINE
Superformance GT40
Sitting just 40 inches above the ground, the GT40 feels impossibly low upon entry. But slither over the sill-mounted shifter, under the Frisbee-sized steering wheel and into the right-hand seat, stab the start button and you’re rewarded with pure sonic adrenaline. The engine explodes to life, sucking a whale-lung’s worth of air into four Weber carbs and bellowing from an exhaust loud enough to rouse Beethoven.
With its sweep of the top three finishes at the 1966 24 Hours of Le
Mans, the GT40 became an instant icon. Powered by a fire-breathing Ford 427 cu in V-8 engine, it continued its first-place streak at the fabled endurance race through 1969, fit, for the latter two races, with a 302 cu in V-8.
This is a Tool Room GT40P/1075, built to replicate every nut and bolt of the same car that won in ’68 and ’69. Made in South Africa by Superformance (under license from Gulf Oil and Safir GT40) each
Tool Room car bears a chassis number within the original P1000 series and can be homologated for historic racing. Impeccably constructed and wearing the iconic Gulf livery, the Tool Room
GT40 costs from $300,000 to $330,000 ready to roll, depending on engine and options; a non-homologated version called the 50th Anniversary GT40 starts around $250,000 and comes with airconditioning, optional left-hand drive and modern components.
Stretching its legs through sweeping back road curves, the car’s 14-inch-wide rear tires push like a steamroller. The brute is a challenge to control, with serious understeer, a suspension that transmits every pebble and a recalcitrant shift linkage, all battled from a stiflingly hot, cramped interior full of gasoline fumes. Yet the visceral experience
The engine explodes to life, sucking a whale-lung’s worth of air into four Weber carbs
and bellowing from an exhaust loud enough to rouse Beethoven.
becomes more addictive and exhilarating with every sweeper—a muscular, aggressive dance requiring constant concentration on steering, shifting, braking and maintaining revs above 3,500 rpm (without radiator fans, the car will boil to death if not kept at speed).
Having spent years behind the wheel of a De Tomaso Mangusta, which shares the same Ford 302 power plant and ZF transmission, I’m endeared to the quirks and personality of the GT40. But make no mistake: This is a high-strung race car, inspired by 420 hp and 425 ft lbs of torque at 5,500 rpm. It requires effort, though as far as work goes, it’s the thoroughly rewarding variety. At 7,000 rpm, the cockpit’s apocalyptic cacophony becomes an ecstatic jackhammering—the sort of sound one might expect if shattering the space-time continuum and landing, say, at Circuit de la Sarthe, circa 1969.
HEAD OF ITS CLASS
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
At this point, Benjamin Franklin’s famously short list of life’s certainties— death and taxes—might need updating to include the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which has consistently set the bar for the executive sedan category since its introduction nearly 50 years ago. And for 2021, the automaker’s newest flagship makes even its own high-tech predecessor seem as outdated as a powdered wig.
Unlike its (admittedly pricier) British rivals from Rolls-Royce and Bentley, the S-Class has always presented a particularly German take on the luxury saloon—an understated sort of opulence that focuses less on esoteric materials and craftsmanship techniques, and more on reliability, safety and a heaping dose of high-tech goodies. Case in point: Inside the newest model you’ll find an optional augmented-reality head-up display (comprehensive without being distracting, which is no small trick) and the next-generation MBUX infotainment system, displayed across five separate screens and activated by fingerprint, voice or facial recognition. Also inside the aggressively textured, maximalist interior are 18-motor-adjustable seats, a 30-speaker Burmester audio system (available as an upgrade), 64-color ambient lighting and a menu of on-demand aromatics. New safety tech includes front-facing rear-passenger airbags—an industry first—and a frame that can elevate up to three inches before a side collision, to better absorb
The next-generation MBUX infotainment system is displayed across five screens and activated by
fingerprint, voice or facial recognition.