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This is where the east and west sides of the city meet and it’s easy to imagine entering the former Eastern Bloc is like dropping off a cliff of civilisation, that the road will suddenly move from perfect asphalt to donkey track, but that doesn’t happen. Since the unification of Germany the West has pledged two per cent of every pay packet to rebuilding East Germany, so now the road through Berlin is simply a glamorous tree-lined shopping mall.
It is a typical capital city plaza now, rather than a frontier, and only the Brandenburg Gate remains as a reminder of the dark days.
We turn left past the famous Nike flash, a unilateral symbol if ever there was one, and snake past the 1,000 disbelieving eyes to the chain link sculpture simply entitled Berlin. Gucci, Bvlgari, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger, Cartier, Hermès, Swarovski and Aston Martin all have stores here, and once again the Apollo Sport fits right in. Its €300,000 base price means it is beyond the dreams of most mere mortals. The Apollo Sport is a plaything for the rich that already have a Ferrari and a Lamborghini in their garage and crave a different buzz.
Waiting for them is a personification of Cold War design ideals, a minimalist hypercar with the technical skills to stick to the ceiling. It can lap the ’Ring in record time and make it to the centre of the busiest city, too. Not bad for the fastest car you have never heard of.
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