New Vauxhall Meriva

I never thought I'd hear myself saying this (or typing this) but I ACTUALLY LIKE THE NEW MERIVA!

It is driven/reviewed in the latest Top Gear magazine. It is in a market segment I would never envisage myself entering but it actually looks good and is innovative, reasonably fast and very practical. Vauxhall/Opel have taken it's unbelievably boring predecessor and completely rewritten the rulebook for the mini-MPV.

The most obvious difference is the rear suicide doors. They deadlock at 2mph to keep your children from bouncing around a motorway an autobahn at 117mph - the top speed for the 1.4 litre engine. Rear accessibility seems good but would be even better if they had done away completely with the C-Pillar - I guess there are very good, structural and financial reasons why they haven't done this.

Overall, though, this brings fun and funkyness to a very boring sector - which has to be a good thing. It does, however, come at a price. The current, outgoing, (boring) Meriva range costs from £13500 to £17000. The 1.4T SE 120PS as tested by Top Gear, is allegedly £23489. Eeek.