Mark Andrews: Planes, trains and automobiles - why are they all so boring?

It would have been over in a matter of seconds, but the spectators who turned out to watch must barely have believed what they were seeing.

The bullet-shaped machine shot past them at a speed they could never have believed possible, leaving just a scent of soot and a trail of steam behind. At a time when the roads were still littered with horse-drawn carts, LNER locomotive 4468 Mallard must have seemed like a spaceship.

On July 3, 1938, Mallard broke the world speed record for a railway locomotive, reaching an incredible 126 mph. I'm by no means a diehard railway buff, but it is hard not to be in awe of Sir Nigel Gresley's A4 Pacific class, which not only an incredible feat of engineering, but with its sleek, futuristic lines, was also a work of moving art. 

Even as Britain stood on the brink of a Second World War in little more than two decades, this sceptered isle still led the world in technology and innovation. And there is even a tenuous link to this neck of the woods, with Sir Nigel Gresley's grandson having lived in Claverley. 

Anyhow, Avanti West Coast, the rail operator that last year managed only 41 per cent of its trains to leave on time, is attempting a new rail record this summer. The company will seek to beat the record for the fastest journey time travelling between Glasgow and London, which was set in 1984, taking three hours 52 minutes and 40 seconds.

Forgive my cynicism, but I can't get quite so excited by this latest attempt. 

The 1984 record was set by the Advanced Passenger Train, a curious mix of heroic innovation frustrated by the make-do-and-mend shambles that was British Rail, with investment taps turned on and off at the whim of whichever government was in office during its long and turbulent history. A few years after Richard Beeching had cut the Midland rail network to ribbons, it was decided to replace the corner-cutting with corner tilting, developing a train that leaned on bends so it could go round them more quickly.

Brilliantly clever in concept, futuristic in appearance, and bristling with clever technology, the APT was flawed in its execution, frequently breaking down and making its passengers vomit as it entered corners. A bit like a British Leyland Princess, then.

But for all its failings, at least it was exciting. 

This year's attempt will be in a Class 390 Pendolino, similar to the one which fell 20 seconds of breaking the record in 2021. It's the train you may well use if you travel to Manchester or London. It sort of looks a bit like a toned-down pastiche of an APT - its streamlined nose also probably owes a bit to Mallard, and it will tilt on corners without making passengers sick. But it's, how to we put it, a bit dull, isn't it?

It seems ironic that this latest record attempt was announced at the same time it was revealed that supersonic flight could be back on the agenda. Concorde's flaws were well documented - it was cramped, too expensive, and like the APT, it made passengers sick. But it also had a grace, a presence, an aura which no other aircraft had. Do you honestly think its successor will be anywhere near as exciting?

And it's the same with modern cars. I've been fascinated with all things motoring since I had a clockwork racing car for my first birthday, and against what most people would call sane judgement, I've responded to the cost-of-living crisis and the Chancellor's threat of economic woe by buying a 22-year-old Bentley - on top of the 1976 Rolls-Royce and old Mercedes convertible sitting outside. I might be shivering under four jumpers because I can't afford to switch my equally ancient central heating system on, but boy do I get am thrill when I look out of the window and see the sleek monster in my driveway, even if I can't afford the petrol to drive it.

But today's stuff? Sorry, I just don't get it. Back in the 70s and 80s, I knew every car on the road,.If a new model came out, I was straight down the newsagents to get the latest issue of What Car? to read all about it. Today, I haven't a clue. It's all BYD this, GWM that, all electric and made in China, with the style and glamour of a dishwasher. Even the ones from the brands I do like, the Bentleys, Jaguars, Rolls-Royces and Maseratis look the same - too tall, bloated and ungainly, like bread vans with thick carpets.

At the moment Jaguar, which is investing heavily in its engine plant between Wolverhampton and Telford, is taking a hiatus as it redefines itself for the next generation. I do hope it will use this time to come up with something sleek, glamorous and exciting, something that people will lust after rather than simply see as a way of travelling to work.

With our high-wage economy, we will never compete with China, India and other emerging economies when it comes to offering value for money.

Britain needs to recapture the spirit of innovation and adventure with which Sir Nigel Gresley stunned the world in 1938.