Inside Track: News

Towcar awards, best pun goes to...

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:18:21 GMT

cj hubbard writes:

Continuing a minor theme from last week. Anyone would have thought the Caravan Club Towcar awards had just been on...

Hyundai i800: winner, £16,000-£20,000 category.

Citroen Berlingo Multispace: winner, sub-£16,000 category

Volvo V70 D5 AWD: winner, Over 1800kg All-Wheel Drive category.

Ford Mondeo: winner, £25,000-£32,000 category.

Skoda Superb: winner, £20,000-£25,000 category, and overall.

The Towcar of the Year Awards test everything from hill starts to braking, performance, and acceleration. 38 cars took part, judged by six independent, er, judges.

But what's even more impressive, no two of the press offices releasing details of their victory used the same punning headline. For the i800 it was, "Hyundai i800 pulls in its first award", and continued, "Going out on the pull?", etc, etc. The Citroen Berlingo Multispace, on the other hand, was "a tow-away success". Wah-wah-wah...

My personal favourite of all those images is the i800. But no-one's giving it half the beans of this Merc.

---

Links:

Things you don't see any more, #2

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Magic bus winner announced

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:50:51 GMT

Dan Trent writes:
Earlier this year we posted a story up about the Teenage Cancer Trust’s competition to win a custom-painted VW T1 Panel van as part of a series of concerts held by the charity at the Royal Albert Hall.

Well, nearly 9,000 entries and £32,000 in donations later they’ve found a winner – Anthony Jones from Manchester. A self-confessed massive fan of The Who, Anthony was attracted by the van’s custom paintjob, inspired by band’s classic hit Magic Bus. Band members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend even added their autographs to the sun visors too.

“It’s such an amazing van and I’ll treasure it!” said Anthony, clearly delighted with his prize as he was handed the keys outside the Teenage Cancer Trust’s unit at the Christie Hospital in Manchester. Pictured with Anthony above are Heather Burns-Mace from the Teenage Cancer Trust, The Who’s art director (and designer of the van's unique paint job) Richard Evans, Anthony’s son Chay and Jake McDevitt, a patient at the cancer unit and a beneficiary of donations to the campaign.

Dan

Links:

Teenage Cancer Trust

Our story on the Magic Bus competition

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Aston Rapide and Porsche Panamera ’ring showdown

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:41:48 GMT

Pics by Automedia

Dan Trent writes:
It’s no secret Porsche and Aston Martin are working on four door coupes in the mould of cars like the Mercedes CLS and Maserati Quattroporte. Indeed, we’ve already posted spy stories on both the Panamera and Rapide over recent months.

When the cars finally launch we’ll all be clamouring to pair them up for a twin test too. But it seems Porsche and Aston have inadvertently already done it, with an impromptu head to head while testing out on the Nürburgring. So who comes out on top?

Well you can bet the test drivers will be under strict orders not to do anything rash. But if you’re at the wheel of a prestigious performance prototype with a reputation to forge and you see your future arch rival in the mirror what are you to do? Honour must be preserved, especially if your arena happens to be the Nordschleife. It’s not like Porsche and Aston don’t have previous here, battling it out at the Nürburgring 24 Hours and Aston even selling ’ring themed special editions off the back of it. OK, so Porsche’s domination of the event (with a little help from Manthey Racing) doesn’t seem unduly threatened for now but the Astons have been getting a lot of attention.

So what can we tell from these pics? Well, a quick office poll hands the Aston a clear victory when it comes to looks – the extrapolated DB9 styling translating neatly into the four-door format. And the Porsche?

Hmm. As tempting as the idea of hammering a Cayenne flat might be it looks like somebody didn’t finish the job and left it merely a bit squished instead. Let’s hope it drives better than it looks. It certainly seems to be rolling less in the corners than the Aston but based on this the Rapide wins hands down in the desirability stakes. Aston one, Porsche nil in this opening bout then.

Dan

Links:
Panamera spy story
Aston Rapide spy story
Manthey Racing
Top 10 Cars at the Nürburgring 24 Hours
Why Brits love the Nürburgring

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The Hot Fiesta colour

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:32:56 GMT

Richard Aucock writes:

The Verve concept, we now know, was basically the styling buck for the new Fiesta. Designer Martin Smith admitted as much; it was what the young, design-progressives in the target group were asking for, was the most-photographed car at Frankfurt 2007, and therefore couldn’t fail to make it through pretty much unchanged. The targets even gave the design a name: ‘sprinty’.

Brand-defining elements, he says, include the bold wheelarches (this Ford signature dates back to the MkI Focus, says Smith), and the rising beltline with kick-up around the rear C-pillars. The grille is another developing trademark; “its cross-section is exactly defined by the volume of air needed by all engines,” says Smith. How satisfying, to have such functionality.

One thing stood out on that concept, though. The remarkable colour. ‘Hot Magenta’, Ford calls it – and they were determined to get it into production. Easier said than done. “It’s actually a two-layer metallic,” an insider told us. “On top of the base coat is an extra layer of blue. It’s this that makes it so distinctive.”

Getting it onto the price lists took months. Mainly because of production difficulties. “The paint shop manager went mad when I told him how many we wanted!” This colour simply takes longer to make. The process is much more convoluted. Yet still, somehow, around a quarter of launch Fiestas are rolling off the line in this colour…

It’s unsustainable at such volumes, and will settle down. But if you want to guarantee yourself a bespoke Fiesta, with a little extra attention lavished on it, choose one in Hot Magenta.
After all, it will be then just as the designer intended: Smith, apparently, marked out the orange of Focus STs as a ‘hot’ colour, and sales soon exceeded marketers predictions. He’s tipped Hot Magenta, too…

---

First Drive: Ford Fiesta

New Ford Fiesta at the British International Motor Show

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Harman Kardon's Amplified Journeys

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:11:50 GMT

cj hubbard writes:

Those sneaky fellows at Harman Kardon [I've spelt the name right this time, eh, Seb] have gone ahead and launched the project I was vaguely alluding to earlier - it's live, and you can find it here:

www.amplifiedjourneys.hk

Yes, it's a website. But before you get all, "aww, what?" on me, go and take a look.

The concept is simple. Enter a journey by inputting From and To locations, select a music genre, and press go. The site will then build you a playlist that matches the length of time your trip should take.

But the clever part is that the playlist is entirely route specific - so you'll get songs by local bands, songs with place names in the title, songs by artists who played great gigs in the area, etc, etc. There's a choice of three playlists initially, but you can chop and change, replace tracks, even input your mood - the result is inevitably going to be a whole plethora of music you have never heard before, and a uniquely informative audio journey.

The site provides directions you can print, alongside a list of explanations for your chosen music - why and how the tracks relate to this particular trip.

The playlist can then be imported into iTunes - and any songs you don't already own you can then choose to purchase.

Before today, I'd only seen a demo, and the site is currently in Beta, so it isn't properly finished. But I've had a quick poke around, and not only does it look every bit as slick as the demo suggested, it's impressively fast, too.

I don't suppose we can expect it to work perfectly immediately, but go and have a play; I - and Harman Kardon - would be very interested to hear your feedback!

A new form of automotive music integration has been born. Welcome to the future.

---

Links:

Amplified Journeys

A different Motor Show experience: Deep Purple

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Mk VI Golf - slammed

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:10:13 GMT

cj hubbard writes:

Generally speaking, we're good boys here at MSN Cars, and wouldn't usually do this sort of thing. But I was struck by the above picture of what is apparently the mk VI Volkswagen Golf, which leaked out onto the internet yesterday.

There are other photos out there, but this one stands out - not only for the slightly ethereal nature of its composition. But also because the car looks slammed. You can't seriously expect me to believe the new Golf is going to have that little clearance between it's wheels and arches, can you VW?

Looks great though, doesn't it? Not so sure about some of the other angles, personally, but I suspect it's going to grow on me...

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Links:

Clio meets its match?

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Golf GTI Pirelli set for UK release - UPDATED

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:29:11 GMT

UPDATE: Angus from VW sent over some more detail shots, and a picture of a mk1 Campaign, so I've added them below

cj hubbard writes:

This is just a refresher really, since we actually covered this car back in May last year.

Originally, this Golf GTI Pirelli was never intended for the UK market. The GTI-Pirelli combo rings a few bells here, but it doesn't mean as much as on the Continent. 25 years ago there was a mk1 special edition, you see, with Pirelli 'P-slot' alloys - but in the UK it was badged Campaign. (Worth a bit of money now if you can find a good original one that hasn't been Modified To Death.)

Anyways, the continental (no pun intended) version has been on sale, for what - eleven months now? And now we're getting it. The cynical might even suggest it's just a run-out model, a ploy to keep our GTI interest up ahead of the imminent arrival of the Golf mk6.

So why should we be making a fuss? Well because this isn't just a trim and badge job. Like the Edition 30, the Pirelli's 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine is boosted to 227bhp - that's 30 more than the regular GTI. It also gains 18-inch rims in an entirely new design, some extra bodywork, smoked rear lights, and tinted windows. The tyres? Pirelli P-Zeros, of course.

There are only three exterior colours - and none of them are yellow (thank heavens). On the inside, you do get part leather seats with contrast yellow stitching, however. And tread pattern centre sections. Uh...nice?

Not that it will matter. If our experience with the Edition 30 is anything to go by, the Pirelli will be an absolute rocket. No-one will be checking the interior as you pass them. The power delivery from this engine in this trim feels like a licence loser - it is so encourageable.

Raw figures? 0-62 in 6.8 (down from 7.2), top speed 152 (up from 146).

It's on sale in June, priced from £22,555.

New pictures:

Yellow stitching extends to the steering wheel and gearlever gater.

No golfball gearknob this time, though.

The seats still don't have me convinced.

Check the P-slots.

---

Links:

Revealed: Volkswagen Golf GTI special

First Drive: Golf GTI Edition 30 (2007 onwards model)

I pity the M3 driver...

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French and proud of it!

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:46:47 GMT

Dan Trent writes:
It comes to something when even the French are forced to concede to German domination of the car industry, even it if is via a misguided attempt at mocking it. I refer of course to the advert for the new Citroen C5 – click below if you haven’t already seen it – in which, to the strains of Wagner, a unmistakably Prussian looking chap goes about various stereotypically Teutonic activities at the wheel of a sleek looking car. In the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin this is revealed to be the new Citroen C5 – claimed to be ‘unmistakeably German’ but ‘*made in France’.

This isn’t right! You can see the angle they’re coming from – German cars are widely accepted to be the epitome of quality, luxury, performance, blah, blah, blah ergo to succeed we all have build cars in the same mould.

It’s a trend that’s been pervading the industry for some years.

And of anyone you’d expect the French to be the absolute last to acknowledge that German cars were, in any way, inherently superior. Inconceivable! Along with industrial militancy, aloofness, gastronomy and funny toilets, fierce national pride is something the French really DO have nailed. So for one of its iconic manufacturers – of all of them the one famous for its individuality, its eccentricity, its FRENCHNESS – to admit it’s trying to make cars like the Germans… Sacre bleu, and all that.

Taken at face value the ad is pretty funny. But the deeper truths it reveals about the way Citroen and other manufacturers perceive themselves in comparison with their German rivals is a little unsettling. Dammit, we want Tricolours, croissants, sultry women and the La Marseillaise. Above all we want Citroen to build French cars, not wannabe German ones!

Dan

Link:
C5 First Drive

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BREAKING NEWS: first glimpse of Lotus Project Eagle

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:46:20 GMT

cj hubbard writes:

Who press releases an email with a title like "First Glimpse of Project Eagle" at twenty-five to six on a Friday night?

Someone with a sense of humour, clearly, as by first glimpse what they actually mean is this:

Yeah. That's what we said.

It's all to do with the technology display Lotus is apparently going to have out at Geneva - displaying the various architecture and build techniques it's developing for its new supercar.

The the fully built thing is scheduled to appear at the British Motor Show in July-August this year. In the meantime we'll just have to live with a few juicy details - including the fact that cold weather, and ride and handling testing is going on right now; the roof will be made of composite material (probably code for carbon fibre) and forms a stressed part of the whole (so no convertible, then...); and that the chassis is based not only on Elise/Exige/Europa technology, but also the Versatile Vehicle Architecture of the APX (Aluminium Performance Crossover) concept. This apparently makes it easy to customise and easy to repair...

I guess we'll know even more by the end of Tuesday next week. But I for one am just please to hear the Eagle is actually (?) well on the way to being a production reality.

---

Links:

Preview: Geneva Motor Show 2008

New Ferrari bodyshop 'best in world'

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Nissan goes racing with the new GT-R

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:40:37 GMT

There is something very cool about Japanese GT cars. Perhaps we’ve just spent too much time on games like GT4 or maybe it’s the fact that there’s just something exotic and uniquely Japanese about the cars that race in the series that makes them so appealing.

It could be that. Or it could just be because the cars – squashed, exaggerated versions of cars we know and love, all bearing monstrous aero kits – just look so damned cool. If you needed any proof check this out – the first racing version of Nissan’s new GT-R. Due to fill the wing mirrors of sweaty palmed rivals on Japanese racetracks over the coming season it looks set to continue a formidable racing legacy. And with a face like that who’s going to argue with it?

Racing in the GT500 category for cars with less than 500hp, the GT-R takes over from the Super GT version of the 350Z that has been holding the fort since the previous generation GT-R retired. The GT-R, or Skyline to the rest of us, has a long racing heritage and you can be sure its return to the Super GT series will have rivals quaking in their racing boots.

If we have one regret it’s that Nissan didn’t stick with the even more menacing bare carbon look the car tested in before the new NISMO livery was revealed this week. We quibble though – the car looks fantastic regardless!

Dan

The Fiat 500 and Mika who?

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:31:38 GMT

Fiat has just press released further details of its forthcoming glitzy 500 launch event - which is taking place in and around the London Eye on 21 January.

The release is entitled:

Mika to sing at UK launch of FIAT 500

Now, was it just me, or do you suppose anyone else was immediately thinking they didn't know a certain ex-Formula 1 World Champion had that kind of voice?*

*Yes, I know. It did click eventually...

For your further entertainment, check this out.

And for a longer build up to the above, see here.

Alfa Romeo: finally on the way up?

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:52:55 GMT

Henry and I attended an Alfa Romeo event at Rockingham last week. You'll see our impression of some of the cars in roadtest from shortly. But perhaps even more interesting is the positive news surrounding Alfa's market performance, related to us by recently appointed UK Managing Director, Christopher Nicoll.

You'll have already seen some hint of the Italian maker's future plans in our extensive coverage of the Tokyo Motor Show. This includes the exciting new 'Junior' compact (though it won't be called that), 'CXover' SUV, replacement versions of its existing sportscars, and a new flagship '169' luxury saloon. Here are some extra details:

The 169 may seem like folly, given the disappointing performance of the 166, but the company apparently believes a car of this size is essentially if Alfa is to be properly recognised as a premium brand - and for its imminent return to the US. This is pure speculation, but given the 8C Competizione's Maserati connections we wouldn't be surprised to see a bit of platform sharing here as well.

The 'CXover' will clearly be getting a catchier name, but the working title is at least descriptive. A crossover SUV, it will be "like the BMW X3 - only smaller, more agile, more efficient" according to Nicoll. Given how good the X3's road manners are this should make for a stonking device, assuming Alfa can deliver.

As for the 'Junior', we'll be seeing this launched in the new year. Its arrival in the UK is anticipated to be early 2009, with some dealers getting demo cars before next Christmas. The petrol engines will be all new, and we're getting some heavy hints about turbocharging - great for efficiency and performance, and hardly a surprise given what we've seen from close relation Fiat recently.

Right, back to the market performance. This is interesting. Honest.

For years and years and years now we - meaning the collective motoring press - have been banging on about a) Alfa Romeo's appalling reliability record, and b) Alfa Romeo's astonishingly appalling dealer service.

Of the two, b) is the real killer, as a product can suffer reliability issues and still be considered brilliant by the buying public if they're treated right and love it enough (see the first generation new MINI for details...). There's usually lots about an Alfa to love, so it's the dealers that demand scrutiny...

Result? Constant - constant - talk of...yawn...a turnaround, with all sorts of ambitious schemes perpetually on the cusp of achievement.

The difference this time, however, is that the plan seems to be working.

For the first time in several years, Alfa's UK sales are actually going up. As MD Nicolls wryly points out, it does help having such a low starting figure. But a year-to-date increase in registrations of 30 percent is still something to be proud of - and it gets even more impressive once you learn this has been done with 60 percent fewer dealers.

Yup, that's right: Alfa has clearly done an awesome job of culling the dead wood from its UK sales network. There are currently just 42 official Alfa dealers. The downside is the associated reduction in official service centres - but if these figures are anything to go by, you probably didn't want to be taking your car to those other places anyway. Dealer profits are now directly linked to a customer satisfaction index - and that's got to be helping achieve this dramatic effect.

For example, according to the dealer industry's own customer satisfaction survey Alfa has gone from a consistent 33rd (out of 34...) place ranking in previous years to a very respectable 10th spot in the latest results.

Residual values are also improving - though the cynical might suggest this has something to do with how rare the cars have become. Even with the reported increase, Alfa has still only sold around 7,500 cars in the UK so far this year.

So, does this mean we're now completely comfortable with recommending you buy one? Not quite. We'd like to make sure all this isn't a fluke first, and some of Alfa's product portfolio still lags woefully behind the opposition in terms of both quality and driver appeal (Spider: we're looking at you). But there are signs things are definitely improving, and we might soon be able to say yes with our heads as much as our hearts.

Links:

Sizing up its 'Competizione' @ Tokyo Motor Show [internal]

MSN Cars Car Reviews [internal]

Rockingham UK

'...and so I said: Alfa Spider!' [internal]

And then there were nine...

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:30:46 GMT

Dan spotted this over the weekend, and it would be a shame not to share it with you all. Since we don't know the circumstances it's best not to jump to any conclusions about pitying or deriding the owner. But suffice to say considering the beating it's evidently taken, this car is actually in pretty good shape...

It's a Ford GT Roush 600RE - the tuned-up version that commemorated the end of the GT's production run. That's 600 as in brake horsepower, by the way - apparently the minimum owners could expect - and a healthy increase over the standard GT's 550 or so. Perhaps too healthy.

Roush only built 10 of them. And there's one less now.

Check the eBay listing for everything that unbolts on car number three (you'll see what I mean...). At the time of writing £7,500 seems pretty cheap, but I can't help thinking there's someway to go before it makes the reserve - especially given the size of the insurance payout.

Finally, as Dan said: Three days, eh? Blimey...

Links:

Ford GT Roush 600RE, damaged for spares @ eBay.co.uk [opens in new window]

For what the 600RE is supposed to look like, see below [click to enlarge]:

Is BMW beating up on Ramblers?

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:25:27 GMT

September was a record month for MINI sales in the UK – the BMW brand continues to go from strength to strength.

So it is no surprise that BMW wants to expand the Oxford factory where every MINI is made.

With hatchback, convertible, and new Clubman variant all rolling off the same production line space is understandably at a premium. With an all-new MINI SUV also on the way things will be getting really tricky. Definitely time for that extension.

But as with every simple sounding building project there is a little bit of a problem. Alongside the existing factory boundaries, and exactly where BMW plans to extend lies a footpath. Not ordinarily a massive issue, but this one just happens to be a public right of way. A 2000 year old public right of way, dating back to the Romans. Oh dear.

Cue irate walking pole waving from the Ramblers’ Association (RA). Offers to reroute the path – alongside the considerably less than tranquil Oxford ring road, natch – have met with a level of disapproval that should surprise nobody, and the whole shebang ended up in court last week.

When we first saw this story, we couldn’t help thinking that from a public relations perspective, BMW was onto something of a loser here. A 2000 year old path and a bunch of angry people (with or without beards), being put upon by a giant motoring corporation? Ouch.

BMW won the case, and the RA has predictably blamed BMW’s high-powered lawyers and masses of “irrelevant paperwork”. Which would make it easy to take some sort of moral highground, and condemn the manufacturer as insensitive to cultural values, or some such. Hell, the RA even managed to drag the environment and obesity into its response to the carmaker’s victory.

But from an economic and industrial perspective it’s hard to see how the preservation of a right of way – which is only used by about 400 people a day – can possibly be more important than maintaining one of the most successful car manufacturing plants in the UK.

After all, there are already rumours that BMW is looking to expand MINI production by establishing a new site overseas. It’s probably best if we avoid giving them additional reasons for doing so...

Aston Martin gets time-keeping ‘key’

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:34:07 GMT

Speaking of James Bond style gadgets.

Here’s one specifically designed for the secret agent’s current favourite steed, the Aston Martin DBS. Jaeger LeCoultre has produced a watch that replaces the £165,000 supercar’s usual key.

The only catch is the £17,000 price tag, but that shouldn’t trouble Aston’s usual clientele too much. Besides which, they are getting one of the world’s most complex timepieces in return. A limited edition, available in titanium or rose gold, the watch has over 400 individual parts and still makes space for DBS’ all-important transponder, which has been cleverly shrunk to fit. See your local Aston retailer…

Cheers,

Christopher

Go James Bond with mobile phone car security gadget

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:27:52 GMT

Do you know where your car is? Even if you think you do, waiting until the end of the day to go out and check could be a fatal mistake. Say some beady-eyed criminal type has spied your ride, and already taken it without your consent? They’d be miles away by the time you realise, leaving little hope of ever retrieving that precious metal…

So, just pop outside and make sure it’s still there, then. Which is a one-way ticket to soggy trouser legs and a damp hairdo should your typical average British weather happen to be in full, free-flowing effect. Time for a better solution. Time for a gadget, in fact.

And it’s a gadget that would make James Bond proud. Developed by car supermarket Motorpoint, it’s a new security system called Pinpoint. Using a GPS module and a mobile phone, it can tell you exactly where your car is at any time. Simply send a text message via the included Pay As You Go sim card, and the in-car GPS responds with longitude and latitude coordinates accurate to within ten metres. Enter this data into an internet mapping website – usually for free – and you’ll instantly find out if the vehicle is where you left it. The texts cost around 20p.

Cool, but information alone isn’t going to help if the car has already been ripped-off. Hence the really good part. Another text activates a built-in immobiliser. This sets off a 120-decibel alarm – that’s ‘ear-bleedingly loud’ in technical speak – and as soon as the car comes to a halt disables it completely. You can then send the rozzers round to make the arrest, since you already know where the thieving monkeys have taken it. Installed in any new or used car sold by Motorpoint for £586.33 all in, the only ongoing costs is in Pay As You Go mobile phone credit.

We’d love to know what your favourite in-car gadget is – let us know on the MSN Cars message board.

Cheers,

Christopher

Links:

Motorpoint

Savvy Saab special edition

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:49:13 GMT

The press release title is almost priceless: Saab 'Black Turbo' Rebjorn.

The information in it: actually pretty vague. But, clearly Saab are about to introduce the new 9-3 Turbo X with a very savvy special edition.

Old skool Saab Turbos are cool. Meaning the black - it's got to be black - cladded and bewinged 900s from the late 80s and early 90s with the straight-edged, upside-down boat styling and the big bumpers. And the torque steer.

Using this iconic black badness to launch the new Turbo X really is a smooth move on Saab's part. It should work really well with the sharp new lines of the facelifted 9-3 that goes on sale in September.

Wondering what the X is about? The press release is apparently happy to leave it enigma, but we strongly suspect it represents the all-new GM 'cross-wheel drive' system that Saab is also unveiling with the facelift. This is an on-demand four-wheel drive setup, which may appear to be a pretty big leap for the famously front-wheel drive manufacturer. But one of my colleagues has driven a prototype. And if those are anything to go by it should be '******* brilliant'. It won't just be Saab benefitting either; rumours abound that the forth-coming Vauxhall Vectra replacement will getting it, too. Exciting times ahead at GM, it seems...

So, it's bye-bye torque-steer, hello modern Saab and decent driving dynamics in one kick-ass evocative looking package.

Savvy Saab. Very savvy - which is good to see from a brand that could be accused of losing its way in recent years. There is one burning question, though: does this mean the return of the classic three-spoke Saab alloy wheel? We'll have to wait and see...

Bests,

cj

Pictures [click to enlarge] :
Image accompanying 'bjorn again' press release hardly gives anything away, but...
1984 Saab 900 Turbo 16v S - use your imagination to see it in a darker shade!