In recent years I've road tested well over 100 cars and motorcycles for my program and newspaper column.
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Sitting at home in lockdown I have plenty of time to ponder my favourites. So working down from third place to first...
In third place... Kia Stinger. This car was a revelation, faster than a 7 litre Commodore but with the tractability of a Toyota Corolla. Driven by a 3 litre V6 putting out 272Kw (365bhp), it drove the rear wheels via an 8 speed auto. 0-100kph can be reached in under five seconds. This was a super enjoyable car to drive and took out my Road Ramblings car of the year award in 2018.
Second place is filled by... Jaguar's fabulous F Type. This two door sports car is a worthy successor to the world beating Jaguar E Type of the 1960s. Like the Stinger it is powered by a 3 litre V6 putting out 280KW (376bhp). Performance is similar to the Stinger reaching 100kph in under five seconds.
This car certainly gets the looks. Passers by look at the car speculating that it may be a Ferrari or Aston Martin. It's truly a poser's special.
Top spot goes to ... number 1... the Tesla Model S P50D. I co-tested this car with my associate Jeff from carsofaustralia.com.au in 2016. Quite simply the Tesla is unbelievable. From a fairly staid looking body comes performance that would see it out drag a V8 supercar. The two electric motors pump out 568Kw (762bhp). This sees it accelerate from 0-100kph in a neck snapping three seconds. Inside the car is futuristic with a huge screen from which you operate most of the cars functions.
To obtain the race car performance you flick the drive to 'Ludicrous Mode'. The car also came with autonomous function, allowing it to basically drive itself. The downside of the Tesla was a price tag of $231,000. What a car! A taste of the future in 2016 - maybe.
Just a small addendum - the strangest car I have driven was an East German Trabant. Produced by the East German communist government between 1957 and 1990. It's driven by a 2 cylinder 2 stroke motor putting out 19Kw (25bhp).
The German word trabant, derived from the Middle High German drabant, means "satellite" or "companion". The car's name was inspired by the Soviet Sputnik satellite and 3.7 million were produced. Driving the Trabant through the streets of Berlin was interesting.
Motoring news locally every Saturday at 5am on 101.5 Great Lakes FM and 10am on 106.5 Rhema FM. Also Sunday 2pm on 103.3 2TLP 2.00pm every Tuesday on 101.5 Great Lakes FM. Road Ramblings can also be heard worldwide on the web by going to www.roadrambs.com. You can now find and listen to Road Ramblings on Facebook.