Supercars are silly. They just are. All except the new breed of electro-hypercars (which are too fast for the human brain to compute) are antisocially loud, they’re too low to drive over a speed bump at more than 2mph even with a nose lift kit, and with their wings and vents and ducts and fluorescent paint they mark you out as someone who’s trying to compensate for a deficit in other areas.
But hang on a minute, you say, they’re the apex of modern science, the point where experimental engineering becomes a reality. Where impossibly exotic materials meet never seen before propulsion methods and designers captivate us with alien silhouettes and rule breaking proportions. They’re the point where racing reaches out a finger and touches the road giving these cars limpet-like grip, downforce, stability and speed. So. Much. Speed.
And you’d be right, of course, but answer me this: where in the world can you legally deploy even half of a new supercar’s potential on the public road? You can’t, and don’t give me the autobahn argument, you don’t need a supercar to hit 200mph there, just a well-endowed saloon with a tickled ECU. So you turn your attention to the racetrack, but the limits of the very latest supercars, the ones now routinely banging out sub-seven minute Nürburgring laps, are so high that you need to be a pro driver to get anywhere near them. The rest of us will either embarrass ourselves on the time sheet, or crash.
It’s not very hard to build an argument that supercars are completely pointless. However, after some careful research involving a weekend spent cruising around in a white Lamborghini Huracán Evo Spyder with blood-red leather seats, I’ve discovered that there is, in fact, a point. My cousin Robbie is a force of nature – a keen skier, a ball of energy and, as
I recently discovered, a committed Lamborghini enthusiast. So on his 21st birthday I surprised him by turning up in the Huracán and taking him for a roof-down blast on the most glorious spring day.
I gave it the beans and he whooped and hollered and punched the air with delight, pausing only to insist that I went faster please. It was a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life, hopefully he will too. Thanks Robbie. Supercars are about joy – plain and simple – not everything has to have a point.
Enjoy BBC Top Gear UK Magazine June 2022 issue,

@jack_rix
editor@bbctopgearmagazine

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• BBC Science Focus – May 2022