Yes, it was just a machine. A lump of metal designed to carry SLF from one place to another!
The difference came in that it did it quickly, was designed at a time when UK engineering was at its best, and gave the UK something to be proud of.
Like him or loathe him, Jeremy Clarkson is right, when something is designed, engineered and built with such dedication, and gives such an outstanding end product, then even though it is only a couple of hundred tons of metal, it has a soul of its own, and for me that sums up concorde pretty well.
As pilots, we all hold a little thought at the back of our minds, no matter how realistic we wish to be, that maybe the old girl will take to the skies once again.