I've been reading Evo magazine this month, and there's a Rare Event contained amongst its pages - a test drive of a company-owned Bristol Fighter, in comparison with the Spyker C8. Evo have driven a privately owned Fighter before, but I don't know the last time the company let a magazine drive one of their cars. It appears that Toby Silverton was with them on the test, and it's a nice article worth seeking out. They have seized on quite a clever premise - a comparison of two cars for people with £200,000 to spend but who choose to not buy a Ferrari. The point being that for that (or any) amount of money, the new Ferrari 599 Fiorano is the best car you can buy so why would anyone not want one, and is a Spyker or a Bristol a valid equivalent?

Ferrari's problem I think is that there are one too many toasters, clocks, lunchboxes, pairs of socks, laptops, mobile phones, jackets, etc etc with the prancing horse on them for the brand to be taken seriously anymore. I have no doubt that the 599 is a fantastically capable car, but the whole ethos of the cars seems to be about showing off how wonderful they are, how aspirational they are, and how great the owner is, and not just getting on with the business of being a great car. I think the same can be said of some aspects of the Spyker C8 that Evo have compared the Fighter with - a seemingly very focussed drivers' car, but endowed with a lot of sparkle, bling and design flourishes that are wonderfully executed, but not quite Bristol fashion.

The writer David Vivian seems to enjoy the Fighter, and has few criticisms of it. I'd agree with him from my limited experience as a passenger in a Fighter once. I would gladly buy one if I had £230,000 spare (particularly if it was the lovely maroon one in the showroom a few weeks ago). The three cars, Fighter, C8 and 599, although similar in theme, could scarcely be more different from each other in execution. Whichever one is in your fantasy garage, in these regulated, PC, euro-compliant days that we still have the choice is surely something we should be grateful for.

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