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Fast-forward to the year 2069 and a 100-year-old Hammond is having a chat with his great grandson.

“Great grandpa, is it true that once there were cars that you actually had to drive yourself that had noisy engines and tanks that you had to put stuff called petrol into?”

“Yes,” I will tell him, “that’s right”. And then I will tell him about this Vauxhall VXR8 GTS and how it shook buildings and drank enormous amounts of petrol and even frightened small animals.

Because that is what this week’s road test vehicle does.

Even in 2014 the Vauxhall VXR8 GTS feels like a car from another era.

Double-clutch semi-automatic gearbox? Not likely.

This Holden with a Vauxhall badge has a six-speed manual gearbox and a clutch operated by foot and not hydraulic motors.

And then there’s the engine.

What a truly magnificent chunk of metal this 6.2-litre V8 is. It comes from Chevrolet and is also fitted to the Camaro coupe. Chevrolet calls it the LSA and that could easily stand for Loud, ­Supercharged and Angry.

Take one very big engine and stick a supercharger on it and you have 577bhp and an amazing 546 lb-ft of torque. We’ll come back to the subject of torque in a moment.

Yes, £54,499 for a Vauxhall is a ­seriously large amount of money, but you find me a car with more than 500bhp for less money. You can’t? I knew that.

(Image: Charlie Magee)

Anyway, logic doesn’t really apply to this car – it’s far too mad and exciting for that. Forget that you are very unlikely to see fuel consumption in the 20s and that it’ll cost you £500 a year to tax because it has ­emissions of 363g/km. There are cleaner airliners than that.

Let’s get to the more interesting numbers. The VXR GTS does 0-60mph in 4.2sec and has a limited top speed of 155mph. Doing both on the road will get you into loads of trouble, but what won’t is ­experiencing the big V8’s ridiculous pulling power.

With its massive amount of torque, this engine will happily let you select sixth gear at 20mph and it won’t chug-chug and clatter as you ­accelerate. It’ll just gain speed like a TGV train until you lift your right foot. ­

Overtaking in any gear is sensational. And the noise, even at low rpm, is amazing.

It’s one thing to make a muscle car that will shred its rear tyres in a couple of hundred metres, but to make it go around corners, that’s a bit harder.

Surely Holden and its HSV wing in Australia couldn’t build a car that would embarrass posh super-saloons from Germany, could it? Oh yes.

The VXR8 GTS handles amazingly well considering it has a small power station under its bonnet. The car is fitted with adaptive dampers and they work brilliantly to give it great cornering ability as well as a really smooth ride.

This car may look far too extrovert to be comfortable, but looks can be deceiving.

You’d buy this car for the performance and to have some old-fashioned fun, but we’d better have a look inside and check out the sensible bits. There’s bags of space inside the VXR8 because it’s nearly as big as a Jaguar XJ.

If you’re expecting Mercedes levels of upholstery and materials, then you’ve forgotten that this is a ­Vauxhall that comes from Oz. Some of the plastics are a bit hard, but then remember the price.

Only 100 VXR8 GTSs will be imported due to legislation, but that will ­probably satisfy demand.

This is a car that’ll appeal to a certain sort of punter – my sort of punter.

In 2017 the factory in which this magical car was built will close down. We’ll probably never see a car like the GTS again, so enjoy it while it’s here.

The Facts

Vauxhall VXR8 GTS Four-door saloon

Price : £54,499 Engine: 6.2-litre V8, 577bhp

0-62mph : 4.2sec

Fuel consumption : 18.5mpg

The Rivals

Mercedes-Benz E63

Epic soundtrack and performance with supreme quality. If you’ve got the money, it’s a great choice. £74,095

BMW M5

Out-grunted by the Vauxhall and rather a lot more money. Quite a lot greener, though. £73,940

Audi RS6

Very safe and secure with 4wd. Fast but made to look dull by the VXR8. £76,985