Volkswagen Passat
£14,995 to £26,455
Top speed: 144mph
Miles per gallon: 46
Good for: the gin crowd
Bad for: the in crowd
Like computers, stereos, and probably rugby players, each succeeding generation of a car is sleeker and more powerful than the last. Volkswagen's Passat, originally rolled out in 1973, is now into its sixth incarnation, and the latest, highly evolved model has as much in common with its great great great grandfather as an iPod has with a 78rpm gramophone.
Back in the Eighties, I was lucky enough to have the use of a second-generation Passat - a hulking, wallowing boat-like affair with a pale tan interior and a dark tan exterior. The car's moment of glory came when I neglected to put the requisite grunt into engaging the handbrake and, overnight, the brown Passat creaked, driverless, 25 yards down the road before rolling to a stop, unharmed, in the middle of a roundabout.
Such a stunt would not be possible in the current Passat. The car has done away with the handbrake and instead there is an 'electronic parking lock' - essentially a button on the dash which you press instead of hauling up the handbrake. Quite what happens to that classic chav trick, the handbrake turn, is anyone's guess - I didn't have the nerve or the verve to throw the stately estate through its paces in the car park of the local supermarket. But though the joy of a gravel-spewing turn may have been lost, drivers can now console themselves by sucking on the lifetime's supply of mints they can now store in the huge cubbyhole that exists where the handbrake used to be.
The electronic parking lock is all part of what VW calls its 'democracy of luxury'. You may recall the advert that accompanied the launch of the Passat: 'Luxury you can easily get used to'. And there is a sense of poshness about the car which goes way beyond the dull but invincible service usually offered by the Teutonic maker.
The inside is a vision in leather, chrome and state-of-the-art cup holders. Why car makers spend so much effort on cup holders is hard to imagine. No driver has ever died of dehydration on the M25. I think prospective owners must assume that a maker who's prepared to invest so much ingenuity into a cup holder must also have tried pretty hard with the engine, too. The new Passat also has an 'umbrella holder' - a very novel way of renaming a plastic cavity in the driver's door. You'd have thought VW could have chucked in an umbrella too, though. Seems a little tight to spend up to £26,445 on a car and then have to fork out for a branded brolly - an extra £26.
Elsewhere, luxury continues apace. There's better steering and suspension, adaptive lights, and more air bags than a bouncy castle. The key is a clever push-and-go affair, and the hazard lights come on automatically if you brake severely - which means no more panic hunting for the red triangle while you are also trying to brake hard on the M4.
Seven different engines are available. But it's the 2-litre diesel which will be the punter's favourite: smooth, satisfying and producing almost 50 miles to the gallon - a luxury anyone could easily get used to.
