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Rating

Verdict One star for the sunroof, none for anything else

The Cadillac SRX is a very ugly car. So ugly in fact that you’ll want to get inside and shut the door as quickly as possible. But sadly, when you are inside, it’s even worse.

Cadillac has gone for a half-timbered look with bits of wood nailed to every flat surface, and some that aren’t flat at all - the steering wheel, for instance.

Now this kind of thing worked in Elizabethan times. Team it with some wattle, some daub and a hint of thatch and all is well. But polish your wood until it gleams and then team it with plastic and I’m afraid the end result will be, and is, absolutely revolting.

Officially the SRX can achieve 16mpg, but unofficially, on the school run say, you’d struggle to get more than 12. Couple that with the £36,895 asking price, and the likelihood of “piano falling from a tower block” depreciation, and this car could well turn out to be more expensive to run than the Iraq war.

And get this. It’s marketed as a seven-seater, but it isn’t really. To fit into the rear seats you’d have to be so badly deformed that you’d need all manner of specialist equipment to keep you alive. An iron lung, for instance, and that isn’t going to fit.

It’s not going well for the Cadillac, so I suppose at this point I should mention its good points.

Er . . . I liked the enormous sunroof. And I suppose the V8 Northstar engine is pretty potent when you bury your foot in the nylon, and I’ll admit that for an off-roader the ride is pretty smooth as well. So smooth in fact that it made all three of my children feel sick.

So if you want an unnecessarily big antisocial 4x4, you can do better than this. The Volvo XC90 remains my favourite. I like its sensible layout, its reasonable price tag and its nonthreatening exterior. It’s better looking, too.

Current price £36,895

Price when tested (Apr 2007) £36,895

Engine 4565cc, eight cylinders

Power 325bhp @ 6500rpm

Torque 315 lb ft @ 4400pm

Transmission Six-speed automatic

Fuel/CO2 16.9mpg (combined) / 396g/km

Top speed 140mph

0-62mph: 7.4sec