Lamborghini v Morgan: An unlikely battle made for the ultimate eCoty drive

On every evo Car of the Year there’s one drive that you recognise as an absolute banker, one you know you’ll replay in detail, a memory that’s being written straight to your brain’s hard drive. For me, eCoty 2025’s came on the morning of day two, in the Lamborghini Revuelto, and it started with a bang.

Shuffling out of the hotel car park in EV mode and heading just up the road to get petrol, a message flashes up on the facia alerting me to the fact that it will need to start the engine shortly as the battery range is almost exhausted. Not yet fully awake, I read the message but don’t take it in. Moments later a V12 bomb goes off behind me, ripping through the cockpit. It’s a proper shock, a close shave for my undies, but at least I’m fully awake now.

By the time I’ve slaked the Revuelto’s thirst our ensemble has swamped the forecourt, so I hit the road – and what a road. I once rented a house in a small, Bedfordshire village because it virtually had a slip-road onto the B660, my favourite road in the area and one that took me almost all the way to work. Neat, eh? Well, this morning’s road to work beats that. Our destination is Castellane, about an hour south of our start point of Digne-les-Bains, and they’re joined by a section of the N85, also known as the Route Napoléon. Already I’ve picked up a tail, but happily it’s fellow judge Goodwin at the wheel of the slightly menacing Morgan Supersport.

Early on, the N85 meanders gently, sweeping through grand scenery blushed with early autumn colours, while distant mountains are handsomely rendered as if in a Tim Layzell painting. About halfway, after Barrême, the N85 is downgraded to the D4085 and soon meandering is replaced by demanding, the road climbing and looping back on itself. 

The Revuelto ups its game effortlessly, flicking into the turns with mass-defying agility, powering away from each apex with an easy, solid delivery, V12 howling. What’s most striking is how assured, calm and confident the Lambo is and you can’t help but lean into this, raise your game and match its sangfroid, measuring your inputs to make strong progress feel like light work. 

Then, quite unexpectedly, the road confronts you with a small rocky arch that is the gateway to an alien, rugged landscape. A few corners later normal topography is restored and you settle back into that brisk flow, straight-lining snaking sections, alternate cambers rolling the car, which still feels so composed. Then you’re heading downhill into hairpins, late on the brakes, the car unbothered, hauling down hard and consistently, despite downhill momentum adding to the mass, then punching out of corners and gaining huge speed in a moment. 

The Morgan is hanging in there. It’s about half the weight of the Lambo and properly punchy, so I’m not surprised. Near the bottom of the descent we catch up with a regular car whose occupants are enjoying the spectacular views and, rather than bobbing around in their mirrors looking for an overtake, I ease off to a dawdle and the Revuelto adapts again, rolling comfortably along. It’s in a high gear as we enter Castellane, so as not to alarm the locals, though I suspect the cry of the V12 may have already carried across the valley.

We arrive at the rendezvous point, the car park of the Auchan supermarché, and I hop out, casual like, trying to keep the grin off my face. I catch Goodwin’s eye and see him trying to do the same. 

The Revuelto is such a complete car. The new 6.5-litre V12 is a monster yet it doesn’t dominate the car like V12s past did because the chassis is brilliant too, and the way it all combines, the cohesion and also the bandwidth, sent the Revuelto to the top of my table, and nothing came close to knocking it off. 

It wasn’t the only car that beguiled me, though. I wasn’t expecting to fall for the Morgan, but what an astonishingly handsome car it is. There have been a number of attempts over the years to modernise the classic Morgan looks but this one absolutely nails it. It doesn’t simply bring it up to date, it looks like it’s from the future; Ryan Gosling could have driven around in one in Blade Runner 2049. In the past I’ve forgiven cars for their looks because they’re so good to drive (FK8 Civic Type R). To a degree, I forgive the Morgan how it drives because it looks so darned good.

The other car I found much more appealing than I was expecting was the Defender Octa, though only in 'Octa mode', when the clever 6D dynamic management is relaxed and you feel how good its chassis really is. Reminded me of the first Overfinch Range Rover I drove, circa 1988, that I went hot hatch hunting in. Happy days.