Now that Jaguar, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce and Bentley are under foreign ownership, Bristol is the last truly British-owned luxury car manufacturer. Its Blenheim series has been running for over a decade but the revised 3 appeared at the end of 1999. As well as a more potent engine, this latest Blenheim 3 S features many suspension and mechanical revisions to heighten its driver appeal and is available to special order.

Costing over £150,000, it's up against some redoubtable opposition in the gentleman's GT stakes. Now, a swift, refined, beautifully long-legged mile-eater it may be, with a fine interior ambience, acceptably nimble handling and, Bristol claims, a modest thirst. However, with its separate chassis and live rear axle, it is difficult to take the Blenheim seriously compared with sophisticated machinery such as the Mercedes CL and Ferrari 456GT: it has none of their high-tech electronic systems and has been developed on a budget that wouldn't pay the paper-clip bill at Stuttgart.

Luckily for Bristol, its cars have a devoted following who have kept production going at the Filton factory through bad times and good. The Blenheim 3 S appeals, like all its predecessors, because it is a luxury car without ostentation that turns only the heads its owner wants it to. If that's what you want of a car, then nothing else will do.