AMBITION, ASCENSION, AND THE AFFLUENCE OF AUTOMOTIVE IMAGINATION
2019/20 LUXURY AUTOMOTIVE BUYING GUIDE
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BY MIKE SPRY
t has been a long and winding road for the car. Flemish missionary Ferdinand Verbiest designed a steam-powered model in China in the 17th century – but it didn’t carry passengers. In the 18th century, Frenchman Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built a steam-powered artillery tractor – but it offered more futility than utility. In the 19th century, ingenuity moved to England and North America, where varying attempts at steam and internal combustion celebrated ingenuity, if not practicality. The Benz Patent-Motorwagen was the first consumer automobile in Europe, beginning the German manufacturer’s legacy as one of Europe’s finest cars, and the Ford Model-T christened the American automotive landscape in 1906. And the world was never the same.
What every car has in common – from Verbiest onwards – is aspiration, the drive to achieve something great. But even once utility is achieved, aspiration persists. This is why we have classes of cars – built by ambition, designed by ingenuity, and crafted for discernment. When these qualities meet, when dream and reality are informed by desire, our roads are blessed not just by the feats of invention, but by the affluence of imagination. In these pages, you’ll find the latest culmination of our finest ambitions. Whether it’s the Volvo XC60 Luxury Crossover SUV, Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered, 2019 Audi e-tron, 2019 Maserati Levante SUV, 2019 Porsche Panamera 4 Sport Turismo, 2020 Cadillac XT6, or 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 4MATIC SUV, each vehicle in this feature is born of ambition – both by manufacturer and consumer alike. Our desires propel these automotive giants to impossible heights. We reap the benefits of own imaginations. We drive our dreams. Open the door to possibility, to adventure, to ingenuity. Open the door to your next ambition.
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