Aston Martin DB7 - best car design evaahhh

The one and only; the original

The other day I happened upon a Kia 'Stinger', of all ridiculous things, and for the 294th time I found myself saying: no prizes for guessing where they got that design ...

Yes, it is the greatest car style ever designed, the Aston Martin DB7.  Which itself didn't just come from nowhere, of course: the marque evolved organically, and by the time of the DB3 the pattern was well and truly formed.  After the DB6, Aston Martin took a wrong turn (in business terms as well as styling) with the DBS, an Italianised parody of a design, albeit very much of its time.  

But with the DB7 which followed a longish while later, they'd perfected the art.  And every single vehicle designer in every car manufacturer ever since has self-evidently had it in the back of their minds at all times.  Sometimes, when the boss has just rejected their nth drawing-board effort for the new model, there's only one way to satisfy demand.  Audi, BMW, Ford, Jaguar, Kia, Mercedes, Toyota, (you can add to the list for yourselves**) ... they've all harked back to the immaculate tapering rear hatch, the lithe haunches, and even - Ford, this especially means You - the grill and front lamps.  (On a Fiesta, FFS!)  It's shameless, it's unimaginative, and it's Not Clever.

Actually, though, it probably is quite clever.  It is, after all, the design everyone really wants on their front drive, whether subconsciously or not.     

Just briefly, a few decades ago, Mercedes had pulled off something similar with its deceptively simple 3-flat-box design, which Ford and Toyota and even Audi raced to emulate.  But that's about as far as it went.   

Essence of DB7.  That's what every car manufacturer wants sprinkled on its products.  Just like they spray that leather smell inside.  Gotta have it.

ND

** and Bentley, and Lexus, and Maserati, and Tesla ...

Blogging will be light(er)

No doubt we will manage a few posts next week but for the next 10 days I think our output, world events that need our comment notwithstanding, will be a little lighter.


Best wishes to all our readers and I hope you all manage to get at least a few days off with family and friends.

Holiday Story (True)

So there we were at Fleet Services on the M3 at the start of the holidays, when in drove a Chelsea mum plus two daughters in the Chelsea tractor, looking for a parking slot.

She made several hair-raising attempts at a space that was way too narrow, before spotting a better prospect and scooting round to bag it.  She assessed it as being wide enough; lined it up nicely for a straight approach run - and in she went, hand in glove.

Her triumphant manoeuvre was neatly capped off by daughter 1 opening her door, crash ! into the car on the left, followed a half-second later by daughter 2, bang ! into the car on the right.

So - check out her number-plate ... 

There are no coincidences !

ND

(some details redacted to protect the, errr, innocent)   

Sunday Return

I am back online today (Cityunslicker here) after two weeks of no real blogging. Quite refreshing, well partly anyway. How can one spend to much time with their wife and kids after all....?

Anyway, I return to see two things that have surprised me after my diet of SKY news for an hour a day. Firstly, the FTSE has hardly moved, despite the clear end to any hopes of economic resurgence. Last time I looked Chrysler and GM were going bankrupt and British Airways was announcing horrific losses.

Also somehow Labour have become even more unpopular than ever. This is some achievement as they do not actually seem to be doing anything at all, which generally by reckoning is the best thing politicians can do. I saw Gordon Brown on the Andrew Marr show this morning and he did quite well given the oddly tough questioning. His delusion about his own success and intelligence is something to behold. I think Orwell warned us about lefties like this...

Oh, I think I still have my job too, confirmation at 9am hopefully.

House Building back in fashion

The markets have been snoozing really this week, with volumes very low and today they are even lower. There has not even been much speculation on the change in Bank of England base rate, quite rightly, as it was left at 0.5%. The first time there has been no cut in 6 months.

However, much to the dismay of Alice and House Price Crash, it does seem as though the government have engineered a blip in the housing market. Yes prices are still falling, but volumes of sales are up, as are mortgage approvals. It is all very early days, but in share price terms it has been amazing. Taylor Wimpey are up 50% in a week, as are Barratt's. No doubt it may be too late to join the throng, but things have come off the bottom.

The Banks shares too like LLoyds and RBS are way up, over 100% off their lowest points of the year.

There is still an odds-on chance of another leg down in the market and the economy, but signs of life in the these bombed out sectors is a good thing; perhaps we are not all going back to live in caves after all. Something to be cheerful for over Easter.