What's that car?

If you're a car lover and you've been following the recent Italian Government's meltdown, you'll have seen Berlusconi chauffeured to and from meetings in an appropriately comical official car. I had never seen anything like it before and wondered if it was some sort of Fiat but after doing some research it turns out it's the Lancia Thesis. Now this machine really does put the mental back into Governmental vehicle.

Now, you'd have to go a long way into the back catalogue of some Chinese or Korean car manufacturers to find a car this, umm, ugly. I don't find the rear too offensive but the front is like the headlights of a tiny little Alfa Romeo Mito have been mated to a Lincoln grille and finally laboured with the overall jarring proportions of a Hongqi. Yeah I said it. A Hongqi.

And one last thing- You could even go so far as excusing the coach builders for their crimes, but brown-on-brown paint really is rubbing salt into the wound.

The Lancia Thesis:

Berlusconi's Official Lancia Thesis:

The Hongqi V12:

The Lancia Thesis TV Ad: