Isn't the Python utterly horrible to pilot? I remember trying one out and being absolutely horrified by its handling. I may have come from the Asp at the time, not sure.
Two words : Dirty and Drives.
Almost as nimble as an un-engineered A-rated Chief. More firepower.
Personally I'd rather have several cheaper ships that are super effective at their specific roles, than buy a Python and constantly refit it for the role I'm doing.
I'm the exact opposite. I hate flying to far reaches with my long-jumping explorer, than calling in a fighter for combat missions, then calling in a freighter for outpost hauling. Annoying, time-consuming, expensive.
If you go back to basics, this subject can be narrowed down to : generalist vs specialist.
I'm in the first group. I hate juggling ships around. I'm almost done engineering my Python and my AspX and Chieftain are collecting dust. If space stations were to charge for ship storage, I would sell them both.