Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Bertone's Baby Jaguar Saloon

Couple of things, firstly the Jag looked good in the flesh, a bit bigger than I anticipated and the grill was awful (IMO) but otherwise good presence and good Jag influences and touches.

Secondly, you state above that the Aston Martin Rapide shows how it should be done yet having spoken to two car collectors and Aston fans (and owners) at Geneva both saying that the Aston is not really a 4 seater (enough room, but access, egress and vista all severely compromised) and that the Panamera in particular is a far superior car in this instance.

I would deign to suggest that you perhaps cannot achieve the sleek fluid coupe looks with actual practicality of a 4 door car. I for one don't want a two door car for this purpose.

And subsequently back to my beloved X6 it thus performs a fantastic service in satiating my needs: four doors, roomy, high seating, 4WD, rakish aggresive looks (some say 'pumped up Nike' looking but great IMO) modern reliable and practical.

It may not be the best in any one of those fields (the Infiniti Fx is far more Baseball boot looking!! ) but IMHO it is damn good in all of them and thus a very acceptable compromise.

And lastly, I personally also liked the new De Tomaso Deauville though its slightly less raised and not as pretty as the X6 it also looks like it might fulfil all of the above criteria.

It can't be a coincidence that the Cayenne/Panamera, X6, BMW GT (though incredibly ugly IMHO), Deauville, various less prestigious makes and even Rapide and FF being developed and produced means there are many people looking for comfortable reasonably practical high driving position 4x4's. I am obviously not alone

There are and of course will be many others who will not want or need the above criteria and that's what makes variety great.

and there is the variety that I mentioned, both Brian and I thought it looked great....

Apart from, as you said Andy, the very blingy (Asbo-ish) grill

Your final para sums it up well! perhaps with the addition that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I have to confess that my only exposure to the Aston was in a Singapore motoring magazine which did a comparison test between it and the Porsche. They much preferred the Aston because of its presence, ride qualities and interior compared with the Porsche. The access was not mentioned - I wonder if they were not large gentlemen? Looking at the photos (as opposed to seeing it in the flesh) the Aston looked a lovely shape. The Panamera's I have seen in the flesh do not appeal to my personal taste in design (to me personally they have a rather boring shape).

I suspect that X6 is again very much a matter of personal taste and ability to meet individual needs. I just don't think it looks great from side on or rear three quarters view as the sleek roofline somehow to my eyes (and this is a personal view) doesn't quite fit in with the high riding stance. Mind you when it comes to cross-over vehicles for me Volvo seems to have got it most right with the XC90 (which probably damns my taste...) or the new Saab 9-4X may also look reasonable in the flesh. Overall though I prefer traditional 4WDs rather than crossovers.

Okay Asbo you got a direct hit right between the eyes there !

I would not buy the X6, but respect that you like it and my taste is no better or worse than yours, it is just mine. I did however spend some time peering over the FX50 so that makes me just as culpable on that front.

I guess I had better go and get a baseball hat to wear backwards on my head.

(btw the picture of the liquid cooled PC rig at the top looks a little like mine but mine is blue lighting and has more GPU 8^) Hmmm lightly toasted nerd, it keeps me warm in winter.)

Rats.

"Keep Calm and Have a Beer."

Now that one works for me Brian!

Cheers,