Ever see something online and sigh and think that you know what the comments are going to be like? That’s how I felt when I saw the studio pictures of the Bentley EXP 15 concept car.

I feel like I could have told them. And while I know that what people say on social media is not a true representation of what the public thinks, especially those who can afford a Bentley, there is enough ‘Jaguar-lite’ and ‘yikes’ sentiment to see that this is a challenging car.

Bentley must have known that, mustn’t it? The EXP 15 is not set for production but that doesn’t mean it won’t inform the cars Bentley will make in future.

The company has form here: remember the EXP 9 F from the 2012 Geneva motor show? It was not exactly a looker, was not widely gracefully received, and while not destined for production in that form, it did preview the Bentayga, which arrived looking even worse.

‘Challenging’ seems to be a word of the moment. Even Julian Thomson, the General Motors designer who has created some truly beautiful cars, used it in our interview with him last month.

Designs, he thought, should challenge; although he works in an advanced design studio so he has more reason to believe that, and there’s nothing ungainly about his studio’s latest Corvette concept. But designers today do seem to like cars that are challenging. They like dissonance. Why?

Clearly it’s a choice. Car designers know what beautiful is because they’ve studied it, and they’re beautiful people with beautiful lives, houses, dogs and partners, and they can pull off wearing suits with trainers.

When it comes to dating apps and sessions on Rightmove, are they swiping yes on ugly people and houses because they’d like to be challenged? Because it doesn’t seem so.

So why the challenge when it comes to cars? Why should a car be difficult to look at? An argument goes that you think a car is beautiful straight away and then over time its appeal will fade. It’s too obviously pretty, or bland.