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  1. Five of the best Presidential cars
  2. Lincoln Continental Limousine, Kennedy's final ride
  3. Ford Escape Hybrid, Obama's school-run chariot
  4. Bentley State Limousine, Her Royal Highness' Bentley
  5. Skoda Superb, The 2009 car of the EU?
  6. Jaguar XJR, Our PM's fast cat

Jaguar XJR, Our PM's fast cat

Gordon Brown has struggled to make the same impact as Tony Blair did since replacing him as PM un-elect last year - apart from on the ozone layer, that is. That's because Gordon rolls in exactly the same armoured Jag as Tony did, despite decrying anyone who dares drive anything more exotic than a diesel hatchback.

Of course, most of us aren't under constant threat of assassination. But then, what difference will a bit of armour plating make to an electric car so burdened by batteries it can barely move anyway?

But let's put predictable accusations of ministerial hypocrisy aside for once and celebrate a truly British piece of luxury engineering. Brown gets from Downing Street to Parliament in an armoured Daimler Super V8 straddled by black Range Rovers. The Daimler is based on the X350 Jaguar XJ - the current model, which was released in 2003 and was brand new from the chassis to the design, despite looking like every other XJ Jag has ever made. The all-aluminium monocoque chassis is still cutting edge today, and despite its dimensions actually weighs about the same as a MINI chassis.

Although a diesel is available, Gordon's Jag is powered by a 4.2-litre Supercharged V8 generating 400bhp and 264g/km of CO2. And while it's actually very easy to criticise our PM for his seeming 'do as I say not as I do' attitude towards the C-word, let's not forget that a Tesla doesn't have the required wood and leather quota for ministerial duties, and a NICE city car would, well, it would look stupid, wouldn't it?

Mark Nichol

Tuesday November 11