Sunday Drive by Hormazd Sorabjee: A car in search of a road

On a twisty, freshly paved and relatively secluded road in the Sahyadri hills, I am quietly celebrating the internal combustion engine in all its glory. Except that it’s not exactly a quiet celebration. The scream of the 420hp, naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six engine ricochets off the black mountain rock and reverberates through the Ambenali valley. As the revs rise, the engine sound peaks in a spine-tingling crescendo at 8,000 rpm. However, it’s not just the engine that makes the driving experience. It’s also something that’s rare to find in a sports car these days—a manual gearbox.