Classic Driver (Enlarge photo)

05/09/2008 10:14. This is the quietest, smoothest car I have ever driven. Rolls-Royce states that there’s a 6749cc V12 under the imposing bonnet: I shall take their word for it, as I will the presence of a six-speed transmission and, for that matter, four 21in alloy wheels shod with Goodyear rubber.

It is an extraordinary machine that defies road-testing in the conventional sense. Were someone to state that its motive power originated in a British nuclear submarine, I wouldn’t be surprised. Nor even - and this is probably a better metaphor – would the presence of hydraulic accumulators of the type that lift Tower Bridge raise editorial comment.

Now firmly reinstated in its position of pre-eminence as building some of the world’s finest cars, the Goodwood-based company has a four-car offering of... // Classic Driver