Green may be good, but fast cars thrive

Cars that travel farther on less fuel are, predictably enough, the talk of the British Motor Show. But what’s surprising is how many high-speed, high-spend machines feature there, too.

Lotus unveiled the Evora, the company’s first all-new model for more than a decade, while Chevrolet popped the covers off its latest Camaro. Ford unwrapped its bonkers Focus RS, at close on 300bhp the fastest Ford yet on sale to you and I. And, if that’s not enough, Renault showed the R26, a stripped-back hardcore racer variant of the Megane.

And this is no flash of fresh product readied for this event. All year we’ve had super-quick motors coming to market from every direction. Just a few months back we had Audi’s RS6, an amazing £77k 576bhp snorter of an estate that’s supercar quick. Then there’s the Lexus IS F, a 400bhp 5.0-litre sports saloon costing a cool £51,000. If you’ve the need for speed, there’s never been a time like now.

The way these cars sell is odd. Audi, for instance, will build 600 UK-bound RS6s in 2008. If you want one, you’ll wait a year for delivery because they've all been snapped up. They could build more, but there’s nothing a car-maker likes better than to sell costly cars for their full whack, yet keep buyers clamouring for more. And, despite the wait, Audi has spent untold thousands advertising the RS6 on TV and in the papers.

And their very existence runs against the mood of the moment. But it shows two things. First, that there are enough moneyed car lovers out there to say, ’never mind the cost of petrol. I want what I want’.

Second, it’s a reminder that the industry is run by grizzled old car guys, petrol-heads who know they must dance to the market’s tune. But, left alone, they’ll keep building the cars they like.

Eco-cars are necessary. Most are pretty good to drive and, more than that, they do allow the driver a sense that he or she is in with the times, and doing right. But if they’re the light, the nutter-cars are the shade. They may run against the mood of the moment. But world would be duller without ‘em.