The Aston Martin Lagonda

Aston Martin coined the term "beauty, passion, soul," but with the Lagonda, everything we badly wrong. A supercar make decides to make an SUV. That's like saying that a top-notch rifle company will make a bubble gun! It's wrong in every single way!

Well, my anguish has been extinguished by the news that Aston Martin will take the Lagonda off the production plans, as they should. Whoever thought it would be something good anyway? I mean - what does Aston Martin know about SUV's? I know they're all about making a sporty chassi, that will give the car a killer cornering capability, and speed as well. But SUV's aren't meant to go around a corner at 120 mph. Unfortunately, they're also not built to take a corner at 120 mpg.

Now, just to set the record straight, I love SUV's - as long as they're made by the right company; and Aston Martin isn't.

I've been banging on about it ever since I got into this whole automotive journalism thing - if you're good at something, and you have a recipe set in stone, why change it? I've seen company after company go after stupid ideas just because the marketing department told them to. I think in a world of flash cars, the design, the concept, basically everything that has to do with how the car looks and feels inside-out should be done by people who have a heart for the car. The marketing department just wants to make some garbage that will make most money. Just look around you - it's all work of the marketing department.

I'm not saying maximizing profits is a bad thing, but when you look at it from Porsche's perspective, they've been owned by VW pretty much from the start, and had a chance to buy the company. Now, Volkswagen is one of the largest car manufacturers in the world, and Porsche isn't. Compared to VW's $100 Billion+ yearly revenue, Porsche only stands at about $7 Billion. Where did the money come from? I know.

The money came from a loyal customer base, which bought a car from them, was happy with it, and kept on buying as newer models roll in.

Now, I'm not going to say that quality and passion is everything and screw the accountants, because Lamborghini has been producing some of the best cars that ever hit the streets, and they've been owned by just about everybody, and have gone out of business probably more times than just about any car make I can think of.

And now, after trailing off subject for a bit, back to the Lagonda. It's uglier than a Panamera, which has to be pretty ugly. It's also uglier than the Cayenne, which has be be catastrophically ugly! And that's just about all there is to it. Aston Martins are made to be beautiful. If, by any chance, they make a car that isn't, they're dead to me, and probably many other Aston Martin enthusiasts. In a world of Vantage, DB9, and Vanquish, there is no room for an SUV, and an ugly one at that.