Opinion: have we experienced 'peak car', and is it all downhill from here?

It must have gone on for 30 minutes. A heated debate choosing the winner of PCOTY in a cafe in Malhada Quente. The truth is, we all knew the outcome. It had become apparent early on. The Kimera EVO37 was irresistible. A heady mix of tactile sensation, lightweight response, motorsport glory, gorgeous design and dazzling energy.

So why the debate? Well, it rightly centred around what message this sends out to the wider industry. ‘Restomod’ doesn’t come close to doing justice to the scale of the EVO37 project, but there’s equally no question that Kimera doesn’t have to play by the same rules as a large OEM in terms of crash testing, emissions, nor the realities of building a car available to a wide audience for a reasonable sum of money. At PCOTY its appeal was on a different planet, but it wasn’t competing on the same playing field as the likes of a BMW M2 CS or even the specialised (but still worldwide homologated) GT3 RS MR.

You can debate the validity of this choice among yourselves. I, for one, am very pleased about it. But it does pose one big question. Have we already experienced peak car? In other words, is it all downhill from here? Logic says it might be: hybridisation means added weight. Safety legislation means added weight. New emissions controls add, you guessed it, weight. Plus, marketing departments want ever bigger cars. Bigger and heavier.

Add hateful ADAS, incredibly strict noise restrictions and a million drive modes into the mix and things seem very bleak indeed. No wonder the supercar market is going soft and the proliferation of restomods shows no sign of abating. Wild performance just doesn’t seem that special any more, either. So, if faster isn’t better, then why buy the newest, fastest version that’s evolved with added complexity, mass and an engine dense in power but with a paucity of character?

This question was burning in my mind when I recently attended the launch of the Ferrari 296 Speciale. Its namesake – the savage, cerebral, soaring 458 Speciale – is Mount Everest. The peakiest of peaky things. Could this new Speciale – turbocharged, hybridised and some 120kg heavier – eclipse the original? Or even come close? Putting the entire hopes and dreams of new and yet to be released cars on the shoulders of Ferrari’s new baby seems extreme. But it felt like a historic moment.

After a full day on a dry track and then streaming wet roads, the 296 Speciale had done a convincing job of persuading me we’re not on a slippery slope. It is fantastic: relatively compact, hyper agile, and beautifully balanced. How can a car so wickedly sharp and packing 867bhp be so forgiving and progressive? Only Ferrari knows. However, the simple, impossible to ignore truth is that the 3.0-litre twin turbo V6 isn’t as special as the old 4.5-litre V8 screamer. Nor does the new car feel quite so in love with life.

So, we’re hurtling towards mediocrity? I don’t think so. That’s way too dramatic, and unfair on some of the new cars available. The Speciale test case suggests we’ve perhaps retreated a little from Everest’s summit to Camp 4. But the peak isn’t too far away either, and the Speciale suggests it might just be attainable once again.