Yes Coot - I ruled out the Vantage after a test drive because it felt heavy and almost saloon like, albeit with a beautiful classic British interior. Lovely car but it wasnt a sports car.
Your comparison of Aero and F type gels with my experience albeit my knowledge of the Aero was limited to two test drives both of which were manual cars that suffered from drive line shunt and on / off clutches. Definitely more "special" than the Jag and with a more distinctive appearance, but for a year or two I wanted a car I could tour with confidence.
I still miss the "go cart" feel of a mid engined car. None of these 3 comes close to the driving pleasure of the Lotus, but at least I can easily get in and out of them. Got a friend who is an 18st ex policeman and rugby player. With him in the Lotus we had to do in for alternating synchronised breathing
. Every time I changed gear my hand slid along his thigh - I got some strange looks!
