Man Maths: Aston Martin DBX

In fact, we really rather like the DBX around here, particularly the later 707 and S variants. There are other similar machines in the space that are equally impressive. But here’s the thing: no such car is anything like as effective as a family wagon as a Mercedes E-Class Estate, nor as good away from the paved highway as a Land Rover Defender, nor as comfortable over a distance as a BMW 7 Series, and certainly not as fun to drive as a Porsche 911. And we’re not talking degrees here – the gulf between a DBX and any one of those other cars, in each particular discipline, is vast.

Now, that isn’t to say all-rounders do not have their place. While we love cars that know exactly what they are for, you will almost certainly need to own more than one if you want to cover two or more disciplines – and the practical and financial consequences of that are significant. So for those who have no desire to own, tax, insure, service and store multiple cars, the all-rounder becomes the only viable solution. I’ve lived with several and enjoyed them very much.

And yet… If we were to draw up a list of the 50 greatest cars ever built, how many would be those with real purpose, and how many would be all-rounders? I think a small handful of the latter would sneak onto the list, but the overwhelming majority would belong to the former camp.

That, I think, is the key difference here. And I’d be astonished if a single high-performance luxury SUV troubled our top 50, even one as capable as the DBX. Here is a handsome car that rides comfortably but still handles and steers with precision, and that genuinely has space for a family and suitcases – plus a Mercedes-AMG V8 for good measure.

Six years post launch, you can now pick one up for less than £70,000. I wonder how many BMW iX3 buyers right now know that the same 70 grand or so they’re paying for an electric BMW SUV would also stretch to an actual Aston Martin. Probably very few.

I understand the DBX is proving to be a dependable thing, largely thanks to its Mercedes-sourced powertrain and electrical architecture. Some owners have reported minor bugs like infotainment screens freezing and other software issues, but that seems to be the extent of it. The dated touchscreen and previous-generation Aston interior would feel their age, I’m sure, but the DBX’s fundamentals are right, and enduring.

Given the chance, and seeing as I adore a car that knows precisely what it is for, I would split my £70k budget three ways – maybe £20,000 on a previous-shape BMW 5 Series Touring, £10,000 on a BMW i3 and the rest on the best six-cylinder Porsche Cayman I could find. But I can well understand that somebody else might want to cover as many driving disciplines as possible with a single car, in which case an Aston Martin DBX would take an awful lot of beating.