Beauty really is on the inside...

The Aston Martin Vanquish

I'm not how you would describe as 'Vain'. I do however, fully appreciate aesthetics of my surroundings.
This has led me to have a large interest in Photography, and to travel the world looking for great sources of inspiration for that perfect shot, whether it be Stately Homes in The Peak District, The Burj Al Arab in Dubai, or an Aston Martin parked at a 3/4 angle on a rainy day in a Northamptonshire Country Park.
Many of my friends and colleagues I know are almost quivering with anticipation every time a new Photo pops up on twitter (@tr_howard) or joins an album on Facebook. - That's aimed at you James!

For I am not vain. I am a perfectionist!
Many tourists, or photographers take their 8GB memory cards, and their £500 SLR camera's and they take a whole memory cards worth of pictures during one shoot, to then single out the 'perfect' shots when they get to a computer.
I can't do that. I have to have a memory card full of perfect pictures. This generally results in me smashing the battery life as I constantly check backwards and forwards through the pictures as I take them. Do I see this as a problem?
Not at all! Bring a spare battery! - Problem Solved!

My point to all this, is that your surroundings are what you live your life around. Some people are lucky enough to have Million pound houses, whilst others are lucky enough to have access to a large garden, and the beautiful open sky. Their surroundings are opulent, and a mesmerising place to spend time.
This is how cars should be. You don't sit on the outside of a car whilst you drive it. Sure, I, like most, stare wide eyed and open mouthed when an impressive supercar rocks up to the traffic lights, but what's the point in having a nice car, when the interior looks like it was fashioned by a blind tramp with leprosy!



I am referring to cars such as the Ascari KZ1, and the Mercedes SL65 AMG-Black.
Both of these machines hold themselves as supermodels from the outside. The Ascari, with flowing curves and angular eyes, and the SL Black with cartoonly flared arches and a menacing gunmetal paint spec.




It isn't however, until you step inside, that you realise how mundane and boring these cars are. The Ascari is more basic than a push bike, and sure, the 6Litre Twin-Turbo V12 of the Merc is an epic engine, and would fire you to 100mph in no time, but all the while you'd be looking at the same interior as its far cheaper sister, the SL350.
The trim sheet must read -Black/Black/Black.

This is no place to be sat whilst you're lapping up the enjoyment of the £100k + car you've just purchased. There is no trouser tenting in sight!
It's the Italians that have got it right, and by the Italians, I mean the Real  Italians.
The likes of Pagani, and Ferrari. Lamborghini and Bugatti have got amazing cars, please don't get me wrong, but they've borrowed the switchgear from their boring German parents - The VW Group. For me Lambo's are nearly there, because if I'm honest, I've a bit of a soft spot for Audi. They are the more interesting of the Big German three (Merc, BMW), but when compared to the likes of the Pagani Zonda, they are just on a different planet! The minute you step into one, you're filled with the kind of lust you had for that beautiful girl in the Bus Park you had a crush on in High School. You're 1st love. Now imagine that feeling every day when you step into a car you know can do 200mph, but can do it in pure style.

It's ok to be a perfectionist, but the risk I'd run in being a car designer, it it would be perfect. Too perfect - like the Mercedes SL-Black. So perfect in it's spec that it's become exactly that. A spec. Nothing more than some numbers on a piece of paper, and some perfect panel gaps in between the central console. So perfect, it has no soul. Sometimes, the heart just needs to rule the head, much in the same way those nutters at Pagani design cars......with pure Italian Heart.