Does it really matter what a car actually looks like? I have just been writing about one of the most ferociously ugly cars of all time.

I argued that who cares, so long as the price is right and the motor does what it is supposed to do.

Later, I had the same conversation with a friend who saw a BMW 6-series advertised for several grand. His 5-series is a tad younger, with a bigger interior – but it's worth about five pence.

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Tempted as he was he really couldn’t see the point. As he told me, installed in the most important seat meant that he wouldn’t be able to see the wonderfully shark-like shape, but would have pretty much the same – or arguably better – overall experience.

So why do we really care what the car looks like when it is all about the driving? The fact that the Jaguar F-Type coupé puts a lump in your throat, among many other areas of your body, is only relevant on the walk up to the door.

Of course, there is the feel-good factor when you are on the inside and everyone else is looking in.

Maybe that's what it is, right there. It is what others might think that is the key to it all. Otherwise let's enjoy all the ugly stuff that everyone else ignores and then we can pick them up for peanuts.

So is beauty just a few microns of paint thick? And does it really matter that abominations like the Mini Pacemans and BMW X6s of this world are so damned ugly?