Category: Large MPV 
Price Range: £20,295 to £35,640
Size, class, cleverness
Cost; no more seats than a £15,000 Zafira
The original and still the best
An MPV is a useful alternative to an estate car, combining big interior space with relatively modest external dimensions. The occupants sit high and get a good view out, and the seats usually move or fold in ingenious ways or can be removed. The Renault Espace, just given a new engine and different trim levels, was Europe's first MPV. It's made for Renault in two sizes, regular and the six-inch stretched Grand, by telecoms company Matra, using plastic panels over a galvanised skeleton.
