IN THIS FEATURE Not a true estate car Very nicely drawn Flinging it through tight twists Pretty, desirable

It's the obvious next step to complete the 159 range. As with the 156 before it, the 159 has now spawned a Sportwagon estate-car version. Except that, as before, it's not a true estate car: the rear loading sill, for all its shiny aluminium garnish, is much higher than the boot floor, and the rear seats fold not so much flat as into a gentle hill with a ramp at the base.

However, the new car is a much more useful load-bearer than the last one was. The 156 Sportwagon's boot space, rear seats erect and load cover deployed, was actually smaller than the saloon's, but this time it's 40 litres larger. The tailgate cuts some way into the roof to make a decent-size loading hatch. And the rear suspension, a multi-link system instead of struts, takes up less space so the load bay stays wider longer.

Rear sill is much higher than the boot floor

It's a pity the rear seat cushions don't flip forward to allow the backrests to fold down further - removing the headrests helps flatten things a little more - but this is still a useful transporter of bulky stuff. A neat touch is the pair of shallow cabinets either side of the boot space, at luggage-blind level, as first seen in the 156. They're rather more useful than the facia glovebox, whose big, padded lid flatters to deceive.