Master of all he surveys

Rolls-Royce ghost
Opulent is not a word I use very often. But it's a good, honest sort of word, and if you look it up in a thesaurus, the words wealthy, lavish, luxurious and magnificent are listed as alternatives. Save yourself the effort. Just write Rolls-Royce Ghost. When I knew I had to drive early in the morning to Abu Dhabi for the photoshoot, I grabbed the chance to take the Ghost not because I wanted to go there in style and in haste, though it does both of those things exceptionally well, but because I wanted to be pampered.

There are plenty of ways to spend a million dirhams on a car, many of which involve taking a perfectly nice executive saloon or sportscar and bedecking it with dreadful carbon fibre body kits and an appalling paint scheme.

So if you'd rather do that than buy a Rolls-Royce, then have fun, but don't expect to win any awards for good taste. Instead, may I recommend that you spend Dh1.1 million (bargain) on a Ghost, and use your creative colour palate to select the wood and leather which will be used to make your own very personal luxury saloon.

And don't be fooled into thinking that a three-tonne Rolls-Royce is strictly for highway cruising. Because a lot of what you're paying for is finely engineered suspension, speed sensitive steering, a wonderful six-and-a-half litre V12 engine and an eight-speed gearbox.

Not six, not seven, but eight speeds, so it not only looks as good as a country mansion, it generates enough torque to pull one.

Speaking of country homes, Rolls-Royces are of course built at Goodwood in the UK, home of Goodwood House and the Festival of Speed.

I can think of no better way to make use of a Ghost than to cruise down from London to Goodwood in the morning, make an imposing arrival around lunchtime, then dash up the Festival hill climb in the afternoon.

You may not set the course record, but you will be the only driver enjoying high speed British opulence.