A MAN'S WORLD!

The Vectra was already a famous car before it landed on our shores but not for all the right reasons. We were eager to find out for ourselves and famous British automobile critics notwithstanding, Yogendra Pratap was pleasantly surprised to discover that the D-segment offering could comfortably hold its own for all the right reasons. It's neither lean nor mean, neither does it have a shapely butt nor a beautiful face, but has all the gizmos and gadgets, the ride and handling as well as the refinement that a man desires. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to...

The amount of controversy that has been kicked up by this car is simply not funny. It all started off at the time of its launch slightly over a year ago. The well known automobile critic and self styled speed addict, Jeremy Clarkson tore the car apart in no uncertain terms. Styling, he said, was bits picked up from here and there and put into a blender. Well, that is about the only thing that he turned out to be even partially right about. But then that has not been the end of it. The styling was a result of GM trying to do oneupmanship on Ford by taking new-edge design cues from the Mondeo but the copy did not turn out to be an improvement on the original. An automobile magazine that is well respected all over Europe criticised the new Vectra just for that. Dull was what it called the car's styling and had it in bold letters in the things against the car column while another British magazine outrightly said that the car did not even figure amongst the contenders for the year's 'good looker' title. Anyway, looks are a matter of personal preference and some people can find even the most hideous looking cars beautiful but what is surprising is that a panel of judges all vote for a car with looks that always draws mixed opinions, more often than not the negatives being in the majority. We are digressing from the point that the Vectra turned out to be quite capable in all departments as this road test reveals.