How refreshing debating W12s instead of the usual identikit 4pot hatchbacks! Can’t say i’d complain if i had a W12, must be immensely smooth!

It is - utterly delightful, and amazingly nimble. Forty years ago I briefly had a rusty old series one XJ6 4.2; around 200bhp driving the back wheels. The SWB A8 reminds me of it, but with an extra 200bhp driving the front wheels! But it is now a dinosaur - these complicated large engines remind me of the fiendishly complex rotary aero engines just before they were replaced by jet engines with only about three moving parts to go wrong. The future is clearly hydrogen or electricity......(although dinosaurs did actually last a long time!)

The FWD versions of the A8 didn't have more than 233 PS from the 3.7 V8 - the higher-powered versions had quattro 4wd.

The VW Group W12 isn't yet a dinosaur - Bentley build them for the Continental and Bentayga - not sure if the W12 is built elsewhere in the group or whether Bentley build them all now.

Rotary aero engines, where the cylinders rotated with the propeller were a dead-end after WW1 - the air-cooled radial engines that followed were simpler and more reliable than the glycol-cooled conventional engines like the Merlin, but more bulky for the same power output.

If I could buy a brand new Citroën CX Turbo 2 today - I would in a heartbeat. The car I most regret selling ever.

There are also three cars on my list I nearly bought but didn't and still regret not doing so Citroën BX GTi 16v, MG Maestro Turbo and (this may surprise some people) Škoda Rapid 130 coupe (yes the Iron block rear engined jobbie) - I loved driving those - dynamically rubbish but tonnes of character.

As for my own 'near misses' (which i wistfully think back on, wondering "what if?"), they included an early saab 900 turbo, a renault 30TS, an opel monza 3.0 and a lhd ex German military police ford granada 2.8i (MK2).

Amazingly I've owned three of the cars you mention! (Used.) The Renault 30 was extremely comfy (almost as comfy as the CX) but had legendary understeer - in fact only a Talbot Rancho I had the misfortune to drive understeered worse, sort of felt like big Maxi to drive. The SAAB was a hoot (although the boost limiting cut-out was a bit crude), that understeered then snap oversteered which kept you honest in the wet but I loved it – for some reason you always felt a step above getting out of the thing – dunno why, and the Monza was an excellent hander – very comfortable and an impressive mile cruncher – shame about the rust as it didn’t really have any other glaring faults, I later revisited the same engine in the form of an Opel Senator 3.0 (The Omega based one) - a truly great car - very under-rated, I honestly think it was better than the BMW 5 series of the day - certainly more refined.

The “standard” MG Maestro EFi was a brilliant car – fantastic chassis with waves of torque that could be driven quickly without revving it hard – a bit like a Dolomite Sprint in that respect. As you say the Turbo was a real hot-rod, the Tickford tweaked suspension moved it up a step further and the performance (dominated by torque-steer, it must be said) was staggering. Some who drag-raced them at Santa Pod RWYBs used to take the steering pump belt off – which shaved half a second off the quarter mile as it stopped the driver over-compensating for the torque-steer and throwing traction away. I remember fairly stock ones running low 15s giving the breathed-on Cossies a hard time, there was also a particular one pumped up to silly boost levels (complete with big intercooler) running constant low 14s and occasionally flirting with the 13s. Unheard of in a front wheel drive car at the time.

The VW Group W12 isn't yet a dinosaur - Bentley build them for the Continental and Bentayga - not sure if the W12 is built elsewhere in the group or whether Bentley build them all now.

I think they are still made in Saltzgitter for Audi/VW cars. The ones for Bentleys are indeed made in Crewe now (not sure if they are actually 'made' or just assembled). I hope the quality is the same.

I think he means 200bhp going through the front wheels as well as 200bhp going through the rears.

Of course. Pointless having more than about 250 horses and 2WD; unless it's bone dry the traction control will block them. And I suspect the two driven tyres would last no time at all, unless they were absurdly large, which they often are if RWD (e.g. virtually every other 12cyl I can think of) - and then you can't swap them round to even up the wear. Must cost a fortune for Aston Martin owners!

But the RS1600, Mexico, RS 2000 etc are right there on the top of my wish list.

I had a Mk2 Escort with a badly done 2.0 pinto conversion, but it was huge fun. That car taught me about crude axles that aren't located properly - I went round a bend too fast on a dry road and the body squirmed sideways making it feel like the back was stepping out. Well it was, but the tyres stayed where they were :-)

A friend had a similar car but he had a rebored 1600 crossflow, stage 3 heads and twin carbs. On the back lanes with rain chucking down we would approach a turning, and he would have it sideways up the next road.

Different era.