| News from the Colonies | Isle of Man
of leather and Alcantara, the interior was nicely set off by Chilli
Red door and dashboard cappings, while the fabulous £2k
Recaro seats grabbed you like a courting teenage gypsy.
By late afternoon we’d got in a couple of spirited traffic-free
laps of the entire mountain circuit. After polishing off the
last few corners - Brandish, Hillberry, Signpost Corner - we
rendezvoused at the TT’s grandstand and start/finish line
(ominously situated next to a large cemetery), where an oldschool leaderboard still has old fashioned lap timing clocks and
slots for riders’ names. Rudge sat out the weather in the comfort
of his wonky Maserati; the seats, so he said, “were like sitting
on a fat lass’s lap.” You couldn’t help but love it: ruched suede, a
bonkers twin-turbo’d V6 and that famous oval clock that always
seems to tell the time somewhere else.
So which car was best? Well, the Roadster was very good but
I think I’d rather have Luke’s Alfa and trouser the change - that’s
one seriously pretty car; if we were buying new then I think the
Roadster faces major competition from the MX-5 - the Roadster
JCW start s at about £25k; the hottest Mazda is about £3k less.
I’d happily let Mrs. Octane get the Roadster JCW, but it’d have to
be spec’d in a marginally manlier triple-black combo if I were
a named driver on it; Rich, I know, would probably take a dozen
dishevelled Mazzers instead. Actually, the comparison with an
MX-5 is a good one to make; both have *ahem* metrosexual
styling, but offer a fantastically rewarding drive without needing
tons of BHP. We really, genuinely, loved the Roadster, but the
roof stayed up even when the rain stopped ... which tells you
something, really.
If you haven’t already been, then I strongly suggest that you
and your local Clarkson organise a roadtrip to the Isle of Man
in 2014. In fact, the man himself was so taken with the place
that he bought his own lighthouse on the island’s southern tip
as a weekend retreat. Obviously, the absence of speed cameras,
its derestricted roads, attractive tax breaks, fondness for fatty
foods, independence from the EU and strict permit-controlled
caravanning legislation meant it was always going to become
JC’s favourite colonial outpost. With mid-week ferry tickets
costing MINI-sized motors only £130 return, and seafront B&Bs
starting at just £30 per night, it really is the sensible alternative
to the over-hyped NüroDisney of our German cousins. Come on,
fellas, “How hard can it be?”
36 | MotorPunk October 2013