Performance Meets Style: The Top 5 Luxury Sports Cars For 2021
There are few objects that say quite so much about a person as the car they drive, and luxury sports cars might just be the ultimate expression of personal transportation. Sitting somewhere between traditional sports cars and a larger grand tourer, these are the luxury sports cars that are as cool to be seen in as they are good to drive.
Alpine A110
The Alpine A110 is to cars what a Breguet watch is to wristwear; the combination of a historic heritage brand to a small but perfectly formed piece of contemporary engineering. It might only be powered by a tiny 1.8-litre turbocharged engine, but with just over 1100kg to move about, it’ll still mince most rivals off the line.
The fact that it’s backed up by one of the most entertaining driving experiences at any price point makes the A110 a deeply desirable sports car that everyone will bend over backwards to figure out exactly what it is.
Make use of Alpine’s Atelier personalisation program to access a range of up to 30 colour options, each limited to just 110 units per shade, and you’ll own a piece of automotive iconography that will never date – even if the shade of green you’ve chosen to paint it does.
Porsche 911
Ignore the cliche that associates the Porsche 911 with a mid-life crisis, because with the new 992’s sleek design, there are few greater expressions of personal transport.
If your priority is having the most exciting driving experience, go for a Carrera S with the no-cost optional manual transmission, but for something a little different the retro-inspired Targa with its folding roof and curved glass rear screen make it one of the most distinctive sports cars on sale right now.
Get creative with your colour and trim (consider the ‘Heritage’ interior package complete with corduroy trim) and we can’t think of a cooler two-door coupe.
Aston Martin Vantage
We all know Aston Martin’s Bond connection, but look past the fitted suit and endless product placement and the new Vantage does more than enough to earn its cool status. It might appear sleek and sophisticated, but in reality it’s a total thug with a throaty V8 under the vast bonnet completely dominating the driving experience.
Its personalisation options are even more variable than the Porsche and Alpine above, so choose wisely and the Vantage makes all the right impressions.
With such clean bodywork, choose a dark exterior colour and contrast it with a strong top-to-toe interior finish like Lords Red or California Poppy Orange (if you’re feeling brave) and it will strike the perfect balance of sophistication and individualisation.
Polestar 1
Polestar is a brand you might not have heard of before, but in the luxury sports car stakes they’re already a force to be reckoned with. Once a race team, and then a performance division of Volvo, Polestar’s expansion to a top-tier car brand is grounded in eco-friendliness, captured in its first model, simply known as the Polestar 1.
This sleek two-door coupe has redefined the notion of eco-chic, with a sophisticated design inspired by the Volvo P1800 from the 1960s expertly reimagined for the 21st century. As well as looking great, it’s also powered by a 600bhp plug-in hybrid engine that will run on both petrol and pure electric, making it the perfect inner-city sports car that’s just a little bit different to its contemporaries.
Bentley Continental GT V8
As the name might suggest, the Continental GT is more grand tourer than sports car, but we challenge anyone to drive the new V8 version and not be blown away by its driving experience. To those worried about the stigma attached to driving something as old-world as a Bentley, never fear – the brutish V8 trades some of the W12’s stuffiness for something far more entertaining.
Like the Aston, the sheer amount of personalisation options makes it easy to diverge from the usual British Racing Green and cream interior norm in favour of a palette expanding to bright yellows, oranges and purples that really make the design pop. Contrast this with one of the best interiors in the business and the V8 Conti GT makes for a brilliant sporting GT.
