SOME PEOPLE, LIKE me for example, would rather be kicked in the groin by a mule than have to drive something with seven seats. Number one, it just screams 'harried family man!'. Number two, generally speaking the fewer people can get into a car, the better it is to drive.

But then MPVs have come a long, long way. I still dislike the majority of them on principle, but here's one that's actually quite cool.

For something named after a Cubist painter, the C4 Grand Picasso is surprisingly and utterly devoid of sharp angles, instead offering the eye more curves to look at than the final round of a beauty contest. It's so radically styled that it looks as if it's just driven off the set of a futuristic film set.

The seven-seater also surprisingly large, and despite being based on the relatively compact C4, it's much larger than that car. What marks it out, however, is that enormous glass windscreen, which stretches so far back above the front half of the car that you might want to think twice about scratching youself in a private place each time you pull up next to a double-decker bus.

DRIVING IT

Sitting in the front seats of a C4 Picasso is something of a unique experience. If you slide the blinds above your head all the way back, there?s so much sky above you that you don't even feel as if you're sitting in a car.

Apart from the fact that the nose drops away in a manner that makes it impossible to estimate where the front of the car ends, the C4 Grand Picasso is a nicely easy car to drive around. The controls are light, the steering is direct, and large mirrors help keep you aware of what's happening around the car.

It's not the sort of machine to satisfy a keen driver, with a floaty characteristic to the suspension set-up, but there's a nice amount of steering feel (more so than in the C4 hatchback) on hand and enough grip to let you turn six passengers green in the face with a spot of hard cornering.

INSIDE IT

The Citroen is quiet on the move, and fairly softly-sprung, so on the whole passengers are in for a relaxing time in there.

Row Two occupants get not only their own air-con vents, but can control the fan speed themselves. As a five-seater, the Picasso is genuinely roomy, and the huge glasshouse just adds to the feeling of airy spaciousness in the cabin.

We placed our resident six-footer Colin Yong in Row Three and he managed to fit, and fit without looking comically perched with knees beside his ears. But his verdict on the seats back there is that they should be reserved for people you like least among your six passengers. Like your in-laws, perhaps.

They'll do for most people for short trips, though, which should cover just about any destination in Singapore.

The Picasso's cabin architecture is unique enough to require a total relearning of how to operate a car, with the major controls all separated into clusters which are then scattered around the dash.

The fixed steering hub (which stays in place while the steering wheel rim rotates around it) also contains all manner of controls for the sound system, trip computer, cruise control and so on, and learning how to use it properly might require attending a seminar.

The seats offer plenty of scope for exploration as well, folding, sliding and tilting in various ways to alter the cargo carrying ability anywhere between 208 and 1,951 litres. Overall, we found them a little confusing to operate, but far better than the heavy chairs found in MPVs of old.

DOLLARS AND SENSE

The Picasso offers a lot of car for the money, feels properly executive in terms of build quality. Seven airbags and three-point seatbelts for all contribute to a perfect five-star rating in stringent EuroNCAP crash tests.

Proximity sensors ease parking, too, while steering-mounted paddles enable manual gear selection for when you?re in a sporty driving mood.

We drove the basic C4 Grand Picasso, but there's an Executive model for $6,000 more, which adds soft mood lighting for the cabin, an adjustable colour display for the instrument screen, as well as air suspension for the rear axle, enabling it to cope better with heavy loads.

We probably wouldn't spring for all that, but quite tempting is the optional panoramic glass roof for $3,000, a must for all sun lovers.

CONCLUSION

MPVs are something of a French specialty, since they claim to have invented the breed (specifically, Renault does), and the C4 Grand Picasso is probably the most modern and forward-thinking car of its kind.

Though there are larger cars to be had for the money, in the end the Picasso is aptly named, for it's clearly a work of art.

Nissan Presage $97,000 with COE
Okay, it's bigger and has a 2.5-litre engine, but the Presage is what you could buy with similar money. Is it roomy? Yes. Well-equipped? Yes. Fun to drive? No. Stylish? No. Sheer practicality makes it worth a proper look, though.

Peugeot 307SW (A)$92,900 with COE
If you want something more 'lifestyle' than 'family', there's always this other French offering, which is more like an estate with two extra seats than an MPV. It's a sharper drive, but falls short on practicality and space compared to the Citroen.

Citroen C4 Grand Picasso 2.0 (A)
ENGINE TYPE 1,997cc in-line 4
MAX POWER 143bhp at 6,000rpm
MAX TORQUE 200Nm at 4,000rpm
GEARBOX 4-speed automatic
TOP SPEED 190km/h
0-100 KM/H 13.7 seconds
Price $96,988 with COE
WARRANTY 3 yrs
CONTACT Cycle & Carriage France
TELEPHONE 6479-2792

PLUSES Cutting edge styling, gorgeously airy cabin, roominess, top marks for safety
MINUSES Soggy suspension, confusing controls, curvaceous styling makes the nose disappear from view
VERDICT There are roomier MPVs, but nothing near as stylish nor as laden with a sense of occasion