In many ways you could say exactly the opposite about Jaguar and especially Aston. Some times the cars are gorgeous but not as nice to drive as they are to look at. Looks very sporty but don't drive sporty at all.

 

Well, not always. Can you say the above with a straight face if talking about the XK8? That horrible rear end totally looks stuck on and was much made fun of by reporters when it came out. It was much referred to as an after thought. It ruins the car from the rear and is bad enough to spoil it from the side.

In general I agree with you. But even Jaguar has missteps. XJS is another example. It only got any love after it became a classic and I still think it looks bad. Most beautiful modern Jaguars are the XK X150 and F-Type. Then to get into really beautiful territory you have to go back to E-type, XKSS, C type etc.

 

I agree with you that front engined Ferraris are their best efforts. I actually like the Portofino, as it looks proportionally balanced, something modern Ferrari design struggle with. But its still no F-Type.

The Roma looks out of place in the line-up, and to the extent it adopts the F-Type proportions and curves it seems meh, done before. The original traits are typical Ferrari, like they made a Mr Potato Head from parts that would look ok in a balanced approach, but become defective when you pick the raciest of everything and glue it all together.

 

Well, the XK8 is not my favourite but it was more handsome than its contemporary rivals. I agree completely that the XK and F-Type are beautiful - classically beautiful. But have you forgotten the iconic Mk 2? And the Series I-III XJ models - which were and still are among the most beautiful sedans ever made? I stand by my remark about Jaguar designs compared to their rivals. Compare a 1973 XJ (svelte and still gorgeous) with a 1973 Mercedes sedan (frumpy is the kindest word I can find).

 

MikeV8,
I have both an X100 (XKR) and an X150 (XKR). Without any hesitation whatsoever (and not even a close race) my X100 which you find so ugly gets more compliments than my X150. I would say at least 20 to 1. As a driver's car, there is no comparison as the X150 is so solid and the X100 shakes like a bowl of jello and is incapable of handling corners at any kind of speed, but looks wise, you're just not in touch with what most people think.

 

I had the XK150 as well (as you might remember, tberg) and while I thought it was an absolutely beautiful car, I tend to think that the XK100 is a more striking, classic shape. When I see them on the road I always think "wow!".

 

I mentioned the Ftype and XK as modern examples of Jaguar beauty. Like I said, you need to go back in the past to find true beauty. S-type, XJ etc are nice looking. But not gorgeous like the E-type XKSS, Ftype or XK.

The XK8 is gorgeous. Don't get me wrong. I still prefer its looks over the DB7 i6 or pretty much any Mercedes, Audi, and BMW of the era. I was talking about what you said about things looking like it was stuck on. The rear of the XK8 totally doesn't match the rest of the gorgeous body.

Sure, if you compare the XJS to its Mercedes contemporaries it comes out looking a bit better. But that's low hanging fruit. Compare it to its contemporary Alfas, Maseratis and Ferraris and it looks horrible. Compare it to the Etype, which is the car it was supposed to replace, and it is a failure.

 

Check my reply above. I think the X100 is gorgeous.

This was not what I meant. Only the rear is horrible. Hideous, ugly and mismatching ugly.

 

The X100 has the retro and nostalgic thing going. It makes it special. The X150 is still contemporary looking and it was never designed to look retro like the X100 was. They are different type of cars.

I think people misunderstood what I said. I never said the X100 was ugly. Only that the rear is ugly and doesn't match the rest. It should have looked like the XK180 rear or even the 2000 Ftype concept rear, which was basically a redo of the XK180 anyway. That protruding rear on the X100 is horrible.

 

Hate the F12's deep dish door/body stampings, love the Roma's sensuous lines and smooth door/body panels. Hate the grill or lack thereof of the Roma. It needs to have a real grill not holes punched in the front fascia. Still think that Maserati's Alfieri design was better than both of them. Too bad it never (yet) made it to production.