Now, call us old fashioned, but could it be that the Triumph TR7 was the ugliest automotive creation of these islands? It’s not a partic­u­larly rare point of view – legend has it that when the Harris Mann penned design was first shown at the British leyland design meeting way back in the depths of three-​​day-​​week, recession wracked Britain of the early 1970s, it was thought to be a spoof. His other design had been, of course, The truly pug-​​ugly Austin Princess.

The potential for the car was great. Billed as ‘the shape of things to come’ at the time, the angular wedge was driven by a more or less the same two litre engine that appeared in the much loved Leyland stalwart the Dolomite Sprint. What’s more an iconic wedge-​​haired Joanna Lumley drove one in popular seventies action series The New Avengers (notice the synergy of ‘wedge’). Whatever you think of the design now, the TR7’s rakish modernism must have looked refreshing on the stolid streets of seventies Britain. It sold pretty well in the UK, and was a sales phenomenon in the US.

History, though, hasn’t been kind to its looks.

But in fact, we think you’ll agree that from the perspective of this angle achieved for an ad campaign, that the (Michelotti designed) convertible version actually looked kind of attractive from the raised three quarter.

Or could it be that the true genius of the campaign in question is the placement of the lingerie-​​clad lady on its wing?