The Cult Of The SPEEDBACK

The $900,000 David Brown Speedback GT is a sculptural ode to 007's famous ride

- DUNCAN QUINN

I pulled in behind the law, hyper-caffeinated and jittery, my circadian rhythm still fast asleep in New York City. Somewhere at the back of my lizard brain, a murmuring about not having any number plates. And this perhaps not being smart. My copilot was a chipper young Brit ready for whatever the day would bring. And what it brought first was the Metropolitan Police pulling us over to ask on what planet we thought driving around central London with no license plates was acceptable.

Needless to say the planet was the one from whence the $900,000 David Brown Speedback GT I was driving emanated. The feline PR girl who had dropped the keys into my hands not 15 minutes earlier had assured me that the number plate thing would not be an issue. And if anything the cops would probably just pull me over because deep down they wanted to see up close and personal what this breathtakingly beautiful thing was.