Quinze Ans de Grâce
Some evenings stay with you. Not because of the champagne — though the champagne was excellent — and not because of the company, though the company was as distinguished as any room in London. This evening stayed because of one young woman who stood up, sang like an angel, and reminded two hundred of the city's finest that there are more important things in this world than being important.
The marketing blurb of the Volkswagen Grand California promises freedom, flexibility and a ‘Teutonic’ level of competence – sounds lovely. But I think what it actually delivers over a four day trip from Hampshire to the Lakes and back was a family holiday with just enough chaos and adventure to be utterly memorable.
Some cars reward discretion. Others demand to be seen, preferably somewhere scenic, with good tarmac and an audience that understands what they are looking at. The Porsche Macan 4S Electric falls very firmly into the latter category. It is far too resolved, far too handsome, and frankly far too confident to be hidden away. So a few colleagues and I took it exactly where it belonged, across the Sussex Downs, through the Surrey Hills, and eventually into central London, where elegance is judged ruthlessly and patience is optional.
Images by Hayden Povey
There are angry SUVs and then there is the BMW XM Label. The former tends to apologise for their size by trying to look athletic or vaguely restrained. The latter makes no such effort. It arrives like it already owns the road and the minerals beneath it. Vast, square-shouldered, ostentatiously illuminated and absolutely certain of its own importance.
For me, Formula One likes to present itself as the pinnacle of global sport - and, to be fair, it makes a rather convincing case. Beneath the polished bravado lies not merely a championship contested across 24 race weekends, but a travelling circus of power, precision and very well-dressed ambition. Think theatre at 300 kilometres per hour, wrapped in carbon fibre and champagne mist, where innovation doubles as both weapon and currency, and reputations can be rebuilt - or very publicly unravelled - in the space of a single season.
Taking the new Ford Capri to Brighton feels inspired, and slightly provocative. The Capri name still carries weight here, shorthand for seaside aspiration, chrome, and the vague hope that life improves if you drive south with intent. Rolling silently along the seafront in a bright yellow electric SUV bearing that storied badge, I felt the ghosts of the past watching. Some approving, some muttering.
The day began much like any other - damp, grey and fairly miserable. But things soon brightened when I spotted the Land Rover Defender sitting on the drive. It’s difficult not to smile at the sight of it because the Defender has that rare, reassuring dependability you’d associate with something 17th-century and timber-framed. Solid. Unfazed. Unmoved by the weather or the world.
When I stood on the first tee at Basingstoke Golf Club, I realised that I’m not just about to play a round of golf, far from it in fact. I’m actually about to club my way into the next chapter of a century-old North Hampshire story. The green rolls gently upland, the fairways stretch out like ribbons of green velvet and somewhere behind the tee box, the low hum of conversation drifts from the clubhouse terrace, where I hope the promise of lunch and a few boasts (or laughs) at my performance awaits.
If you are one of the many regular readers of International Excellence Magazine, you will already know that Goodwood Revival is one of my happiest annual fixtures: my spiritual tune-up for all things style, speed, and slightly obsessive attention to detail.
