Peugeot 308 RC Z: the best looking car on sale today?

THE waiting is almost over.

Given that I’m a grown up and a journalist, I should be expected to view everything in a calm, cool, clinical – some might even say cynical – way, but this week’s one of those rare occasions when I’ve reverted to child at Christmas mode in giddy anticipation of something I’m genuinely excited about.

The Peugeot 308 RC Z.

If you’re wondering why I’m counting down the days – two, in case you’re interested – until my date with the slinky coupe then just stop reading, scroll back up to the picture at the top of this post and just look at it. Disagree if you like, but I think it’s a thing of beauty.

I’ll let you into a secret; I’ve already driven one. In all honesty, it wasn’t the most exciting thing I’ve ever driven but the difference between it and the Peugeot 308 CC, its technical twin, was profound. Hunkered down to the ground the RC Z handled beautifully in the half hour I had to try it out. But what mattered more was that I’d bagged half an hour at all.

At the Millbrook test day in May it was the only machine I had to queue to get a go in, despite the likes of Ford’s Focus RS500, Honda’s CR-Z, the Rolls Ghost and the entire Bentley range on offer for the other writers from across Britain to go and play with. Not that I was bothered standing around, because it meant more time to take in those delicate curves and the double bubble roof.

Style is subjective, so feel free to tell me I’m wrong. Unless you count the Aston Martin V12 Vantage, the Ferrari 458 Italia and the Mercedes SLS – all supercars from the rarefied stratosphere of motoring – I cannot think of a new car that’s as satisfying simply to look at.

For all I know it could be a holiday romance, and in reality be crummy to drive, cramped to sit in and hopeless when it comes to handling a week’s worth of shopping. But I’m actually aching to find out how good it is in the real world, because it’s one of the most eagerly-anticipated cars of the year.

I was going to say this is the prettiest Pug since the elegant and cruelly forgotten 406 Coupe, but in my childish bout of excitement I’m going to go further and say it’s probably one of those exotic-yet-attainable style icons you get once in a generation. E-Type, Citroen SM, Fiat Coupe, Audi TT, RC Z. It’s got a ring to it, don’t you think?

Whatever happens, Wednesday can’t come too soon.