When a design precedent such as Peugeot's 406 coupé makes a mark high on the good-looks bench it's always going to be difficult to top.
Such was the case with the Pininfarina-penned 406 coupé. And yet, somehow, the in-house designers at Peugeot may have eclipsed the Italian design house with the 407 coupé.
And while the 407 sedan is gorgeous enough, the two-door exemplar takes it a step further. Quite simply, it's beautiful.
It turns heads as it quietly steals its way across the tarmac, low, sleek and super elegant. Indeed, it had me trying to find an angle from which it was not alluring, and for a moment it did, but only for a moment.
So each time I crept up to the 407 coupé, remotely unlocked the car and hauled open the huge, heavy doors, it was an event. Flash the remote at the coupé and the rear view mirrors fold out.
Slip into the low, power-adjustable leather seats and let the elegant, if busy, fascia and console draw you in.
Elegant and simple in terms of the instruments but let down, I believe, by the complexity of the central console with its myriad and confusing buttons and on-board computer display.
If you decide that you're going to spend the R380 000 for the turbodiesel coupé I drove you'll need to spend an afternoon learning just how the system works.
In my case, perhaps another time. Besides, I'm not lucky or well-heeled enough ever to own one.
All of these looks are also a bonus, complementing in the case of the HDi turbo-diesel "what lies beneath". That's because under the bonnet of the 407 coupé HDi is arguably the most cutting-edge diesel on the market.
First, you're barely aware that a member of the old chattering classes is driving the coupé's front wheels. Indeed, such is the sophistication of today's front-wheel drives that you'd also be challenged to argue its case as a car that's pulled, rather than pushed, along.
It's just so quiet, strong and unobtrusive, a 2.7-litre V6 that gets about its business without incident. The hi-tech FAP diesel unit putsout a claimed 150kW, only 5kW short of the 155kW that its 300cc-bigger petrol engined sibling delivers.
The big difference, of course, is the torque. While the petrol unit with its 290Nm at 3750rpm could be described as "lazy" at times, the huge 440Nm available from just 1900 in the force-fed diesel is awesome.
Super smooth
Combined with a super-smooth six-speed automatic gearbox, the HDi hauls from nowhere... and continues to haul. You have to be pretty astute to catch it off-guard to experience any lag, and then it's only momentary.
So acceleration is quite astonishing because of the way it's delivered: 100km/h comes up from rest inside nine seconds, and the HDi coupé will keep on running to about 235km/h.
That's OK on the autobahn, or strada, or whatever they call it in the 407's home country, but out here at the 120km speed limit, the HDi's barely turning over.
That means it sips diesel, officially using the stuff at just eight or so litres/100km in a combination of driving. You can probably get that to well below seven on the open road.
And remember, that's without sacrificing performance. The HDi also does it so quietly, cocooned as one is in the safety of the cabin with its seven crash bags and a array of other passive protection features.
Active safety is taken care of by big, anti-lock disc brakes, electronic brake pressure distribution, traction control and stability control that helps when the car begins to get out of shape with under or over-steer.
Classy hi-fi
Other extras include cornering headlights with a see-you-home function and parking sensors - the last a boon for people who, like me, sit low so have difficulty seeing the extremities of the low, long car.
A very classy JBL hi-fi system with front-loading CD and MP3 are standard, as are Peugeot's column-mounted remote controls.
The marque that made the rampant lion famous also throws in a three year/100 000km warranty, a five year 100 000km maintenance plan and 20 000km service intervals in the case of the HDi.
If, like its 406 forebear, you parked your 407 coupé alongside the latest Ferrari 599 it would not look out of place.
With Maranello in recent years going the front-engined route, you'd be forgiven for thinking they were cousins.
Really.