TopGear March 2009 [antikvár]

JUST BACK FROM PITTINGTHE NEW 500bhp Jag XK against the Amüii Marcin DB9.1 won't tell you what 1 tliink, not because I don't want you not to read my piece on pl38, but becausc I haven't written it yet, and I never really know what I really think until I have an Apple Mac in front of me. What I do know is chat on some pretty fast, very Welsh and extremely icy roads, a word that's haunted the production of this issue was very much in all our minds: commitment. Commitment, we've decided, is whac make.s chings fa.st. Ix'C me explain. We're all more than a litde bit excited about the new Focus RS around here. Seems like everyone between these four walls has been touched by some sort of vaguely lairy fast Ford or something of that ilk - you know, .small or smallish, slighdy too powerftil, front- or four-wheel drive, quick to steer and generally Ix-nign to corticr. On an unkiiown road, the conversation around here went, there is nothing quicker. The thinking behind that being a fa.st point-and-.squirry type car is more likely to forgive ovcr-commitment to a corner or make up for under-committnem. And it's commitment that decidcs how well, how smcM)thly, how rapidly you pitss down a road. Without confidence in your vehicles ability to forgive mistakes and forget lack of ambit ion, you simply can't cotiimit. '('hat make sense? Well, we thought it did. so wc set up our cover story. Unknown ríKul, one driver in a Focus KS, one hunianoid/niutant/alten/ri>bot being in the other, or, fully aist, 'l<»m Fnrd in a new Focii.s KS and Mr The .Stig in Ford (!T. Interesting hey? Read what 'linn h;id to s;iy aliotit it iirul The Stig didn't oti p';8. But iliat got us thinking about other Stories in this issue. The original Audi RH is the exemplary coiiliilencc-lniilding supercar. Indeed it.s whole sdnick is a supercar that behaves a bit like your first hoi front-driver. Around here, we couldn't help but worry that fitting a bi^er, heavier, more powerhil, more sticking-out-the-back-a-bit-more VlO might just spoil it. So we insisted Paul Horrell )unip in a V8 the moment he got back from driving the VlO and before he sac down to write the VIU story. And that in turn led us to Sir Stirling Moss and, indeed, the SLR Stirling Moss special - chc apogee ot commitment. The gu, well, just look at it. The man, well, we dl know it's the oldest story on planet CU, but Moss's victorious 1955 Mille Miglia drive was somediing else. The car, the man, the man sitting beside the man with die litde loo roll of every nirn, ever)' twist, every bump, every dip of those 1,000 miles from Brescia to Rome and back a^n On some fast and extremely ic:y roads, a word that's haunted the production of this Issue was very much in our minds: commitment. Commitment, we've decided, is what makes things fast There's commitment like nobody had ever seen before: Sir Stirling's confidence in the car, his confidence in Denis Jenkison's pace notes. Seldom has a man set out on a drive more commined, never has a man driven more impressively. So who else to calk CO about this fiuicy concept of commicment? As ever (p92), Sir Stirling didn't disappoint. So, you see we don't just sit down and throw this all together like a hungry tnan at a buftet, that would give you, ;ind us, indigestion. And our way of doing things continues to go down well widi you - there are more of you subscribing than ever, and more of you buying us on the bookstands. As a result, our circulation is higher than ever, over 200k, and now well over twice as matiy as our ne-arest rival. But we're not restitig on any laurels, and CharlieTurner and I are about to lock ourselves away in a room and come up with Top Cair Mk II. As ever, Id be delighted to hear what you like and don't like about the mag-.i/ine. So pkust' write to me .It letters.tgmagt^blK.co.uk, but give me a moment III sit down and write that XK/DIV) piece first, MkJiael Harvey, Editor the THE INSIDE LINE ON PAUL REGAN'S TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANI: TOBE PROPERLY transported back to the grainy days of the first motorway. I needed something of the era to drive. The Ford Anglia was launched the same year as Preston s ly-pass opened, and Ford s heritage garage had a minter on its books ready for me to borrow. It's part of a charming collection of 99 classics Kept in space vacated ty an old truck production line in the Dagenham factory. It starts I with a last-gen --' Focus RS and works right back to the Model T taking in Cortinas. Escorts. Caphs and obscure stuff like Supervan and a prototype 4x4 Mkl Capri. They're all kept in perfect nick by lifelong Fbrdies Ivan and Colin - top blokes who like a good chlnwag and make a great cup of tea. And the Anglia didn't miss a beat in 600 miles, so they definitely Know their onk)ns- I. r ntpGf.fr 11 P. Hi