martinbo

Charisma - ooo, decidely subjective definition of anything automotive. It's so difficult to quantify what constitutes charisma. In the eyes of the aesthetically besotted king of form and design on this forum, Roberto (this said with utmost respect and endearment), the visual appeal stimuli are triggered quite differently compared with the rest of our members.

In my mind, it's not just the form that exudes charisma, it's also how an automobile delivers on its promise. Some cars are unashamedly performance-oriented and exude heaps of charisma without containing an iota of classic styling appeal. These are cars like the magnificent Skyline GT-R 34 or the fabulous Impreza P1.

A Mini Cooper S in two tone white and contrasting paint colour with stripes on the bonnet; that's a whole load of charisma concentrated in one little automobile. Sure, it hasn't got the classic form or ingenious design appeal of the original but it makes up for such shortcomings in other areas such as driver appeal and feel-good factor.

On the other end of the scale, a Carrera GT is another prime example; mediocre looks, oodles of charisma.

As for older cars, a BMW 635csi has charisma, if not as much as a 450 SLC convertible. A Lambo Miura despite some daft looking headlights is smothered in Italian charisma in a way that a Morth just isn't.

What about a Zonda, heck that car's got so much charisma that it's a wonder that we don't have Pagani Zonda eau de toilette or Horatio designer eyewear.

And then of course, one can throw the proverbial and contradictory spanner and ask: "have I mistaken character for charisma"? Or are they one and the same thing?

...oh by the way, as for that Escalade, it's got charisma in about the same way that Mr. T had charisma back in the 80's.

I ain't goin' in no plane sucka foool.