The cabin, which is also highly conservative, is the work of the Italian design house Bertone. The Xsara will get its first public airing at the Frankfurt Show in September It goes on sale in Britain in November Gavin Green. This Xantia look - with its pointed nose, half-notch hatchback tail and wide rear - is likely to be the new corporate style of Citroen. Mine was the look that was adopted." Taylor then oversaw the car's exterior styling through to production He says he used the bigger Xantia as his role model. "I'd just left the Royal College of Art in London, and was head-hunted by Citroen in Paris," he says "When I arrived, work had just begun on the Xsara programme I was one of a number of designers who did sketches.

The car has been designed by a 29-year-old Englishman, Giles Taylor The Xsara was his first job. Those looking for a resurrection of bold Citroen styling will be disappointed. Called the Xsara, it is a handsome if totally conventional five- and three-door hatchback. Citroen has unveiled its new small-to-medium hatchback, which replaces the popular, good-to-drive but dull-looking ZX.

It is just a vehicle, no more or less, it carries a lot of people, and it does a good job.. It was refreshing to drive a car that has no trumped-up advertising-led image and doesn't pretend to be aggressive/sexy/individual/superior/fiery/sporty/caring or in any way anthropomorphic. It handles well, rides well, seems well made, is economical, and goes about its task in a no-nonsense way. It looks about as interesting as a cardboard box: a modern, bland, van-like thing But there is such a pleasing unpretentiousness about it. Still, the Picnic was nothing special.The most surprisingly good MPV of the bunch was probably the Fiat Ulysse turbodiesel.

Some people will like this; others, who enjoy the lofty driving position, will not. That the rear windows cannot be properly opened did not help their queasiness.I liked the Toyota Picnic - marketed by Toyota as half-way between car and people carrier. It certainly drives like a decent car, and you don't sit as high as in a normal MPV. But it sucked through fuel, like a truck, and my rear passengers complained of car sickness owing to the roly-poly handling. The upshot is discomfort for adults on long journeys.The Chrysler Grand Voyager that I used for a week certainly looked good, and loped along in that long-legged, Big Country American way. In order to optimise leg-room for seven people on a vehicle the same length as a Mondeo, the bottom seat cushions are too short. Along with its VW Sharan twin, it is easily the nicest to drive.