Bond bad girl Rosamund Pike, who played the fit Olympic fencer and double agent Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, is at Waddesdon Manor to pick the car she would like to drive home in. She, far more than fellow judges at the Louis Vuitton Classic like Yasmin Le Bon and Jodie Kidd, is in desperate need of a set of wheels.
"Right now I don't have any car at all," reveals Pike as we stroll down a millionaire's row of cars. "In fact I've not had a car in the four years since I got my licence. I rent one when I need one and in London that's not very often."
The irony of her situation is not lost on her. The grand driveway leading to the house is awash with some of the most iconic cars ever made. Her recent Hollywood standing means she could afford most of this automotive eye candy. But she is holding out for, in car terms, Mr. Right. To be more precise, she knows who Mr. Right is but hasn't yet found the perfect specimen.
"I am looking for a Citroen DS. I have been on the internet but so far I haven't found the one I want," explains Rosamund with mild defence. Her discomfort is understandable. Here she is, car-less, in a gathering of people like Jay Kay who own dozens. A quizzical look from her audience prompts a brief dissertation on the subject of the boat-like DS from the Oxford-educated, cello-playing erudite.
"I want one because it is beautiful, because the view is panoramic and because it is a design classic," she expands with a ripple of excitement for her dream machine. "It is a romantic car I think. From a style point of view. Have you not read Roland Barthes essay on the DS?"
Just in case you have not studied the 1957 work on the then revolutionary Citroen here is an excerpt: 'The D.S. - the "Goddess" - has all the features of one of those objects from another universe which have supplied fuel for the neomania of the eighteenth century and that of our own science-fiction: the Deesse is first and foremost a new Nautilus.'
Rosamund has studied the subject of her impending purchase like a punter clutching their form guide at Glorious Goodwood or an art collector perusing the auction rooms. One thing she did not know is that the car's hydro-pneumatic suspension means it is one of the few cars the clampers cannot ensnare with their Denver Boots. That will be a bonus for the Chelsea resident.
"That's good," says Rosamund, who once described parking meters and their ridiculous four-minutes-for-20p tariff as her pet hate. "I am not just thinking of it as a runabout. It's a car with a sense of occasion."
|
Next: Growing up with Volvos 
|
 |
