Renault Scenic: car review | Martin Love

If you have a young family, you'd do well to take the Scenic route. Renault's all-rounder is your nursery on the road

Price: 21,605
Top speed: 118mph
0-62mph: 11.4 seconds
MPG: 48.7
CO₂: 140g/km

The Renault Scenic holds a special place in the heart of anyone who has ever had to wrestle a batch of wriggling kids, plus all their kit, into a car that's way too small. As if sent down from some mist-shrouded summit, the first Scenic rolled into our lives 20 years ago. It was immediately named 1997 European Car of the Year and earned a devoted following among stressed-out parents. It was the first time any of us had heard the acronym MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle) and it was also the first car to break the long-standing binary divide between saloon and estate. Like many things these days, the Scenic was fluid, a bit of both, and the best of both. It was a saloon with estate-like storage; an estate with saloon-like handling. It established new levels of expectation among our children as regards space, light, windows, leg-room and not having your brother's sharp elbow jabbing into you.