For years, the supercar arms race has been pretty straightforward: more power, more computers and, inevitably, some hybrid assistance. However, just this week, there have been three extraordinary machines that suggest the world’s most exclusive carmakers are beginning to ask a rather different question: what if driving the car were the point?
Take the Gordon Murray S1. It has a 4.2-litre naturally aspirated Cosworth V12 producing up to 690bhp, a six-speed manual gearbox and a central driving position. But the numbers almost miss the point. Gordon Murray has deliberately tuned the S1 for mechanical grip, raised its ride height by 10mm and softened the damping compared to the extreme S1 LM. It even gets a touring sixth gear. The idea is simple: make a car that you actually want to drive for hours.
Then there is the McLaren McL 6GT, which might be the biggest surprise of the three. It marks McLaren’s return to an authentic manual gearbox for the first time since the legendary F1 in 1992. Hydraulic steering, tactile switchgear and a deliberately mechanical gear lever reinforce the idea that the driver should be doing more than simply pointing the car and hanging on.
And Aston Martin has taken a slightly different route with the Valen. There is no manual gearbox here, but there is an outrageous 850bhp and 1,000Nm from a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12. More importantly, Aston Martin has obsessed over the things enthusiasts actually feel: steering response, throttle mapping, chassis balance, brake pedal feel and, naturally, the sound of that V12.
That makes these three cars fascinating. In an era where cars can change gears faster than any human, generate their own downforce and take a lot of electric assistance, Gordon Murray, McLaren and Aston Martin have collectively given us mere mortals some hope that the future of supercars might just be more analogue than what everyone thinks.
