If fortune really did favour the brave, Renault would be the bestselling car manufacturer on earth. The one-time maker of the world’s dullest cars — remember that mind-numbingly boring former European car of the year, the Renault 9? — has more guts in one of its kicked-out boot-lids than most rivals can muster in their entire ranges.

This new-found love of design has been a hit-and-miss affair, though. The Vel Satis executive hatchback is ugly, dynamically off the pace and if I never drove another I wouldn’t miss it. Although the Avantime MPV-coupé hybrid at least looks good it is conceptually too weird for most tastes. But where it really matters, in the biggest car category in Europe, the new Mégane family hatch has hit the spot. Great looking, good to drive and well executed, it deserves its recent car of the year title as much as its forebear did not.

Which brings me to the new Espace. It’s nearly 20 years since this car invented the MPV category but it has often made me feel like one of those poor souls who don’t find Vic Reeves funny. While colleagues banged on about how clever it was, I was just bewildered. Why have an Espace when a Ford Galaxy was so much better to live with and drive? But we are all entitled to our moments of enlightenment. It took the first episode of Shooting Stars before I got Vic Reeves and this generation, the fourth, before I understood the Espace.

Not that it’s a difficult car to criticise, particularly as it’s coming to market just after the impressive new Citroën C8 and its Peugeot 807 and Fiat Ulysse sisters. They have sliding doors, the Espace does not. They offer eight seats, the Espace has seven. They are full of innovative and useful features, like doors that open by remote control and a wide-angle interior mirror; the Espace is not.

But if the Espace has fallen behind in terms of what it does, it has taken a commanding lead in the way it does it. I have long waited for an MPV that does not make you feel as if you have sold out entirely to the pocket dictators on the back seat, a feat achieved at last by the Espace.

I like the originality of its exterior and love its cabin. Again it is not without fault: the central electronic instruments are a confused splat of light-emitting digits, but the minimalist fascia is restful and uncluttered by the usual stereo and ventilation switches. Visibility is also superb, thanks to skinny roof pillars.

The Espace also solves the people carrier’s perennial power problem. In the past, MPVs have forced you to choose between unrefined but frugal diesels, gutless small-capacity petrol engines or profligate large petrol power plants. Now the Espace comes with a 3 litre 180bhp diesel V6, combining near 130mph potential and 30mpg in normal running. Smooth at idle and very quiet at speed, it is what MPVs have been crying out for.

In fact, it is at speed that this Espace impresses most, wafting along with the fast-lane cruisers, smooth riding even when fully laden and always with plenty in reserve. Conversely, it’s at its worst when driven empty around town, where it is too large and the ride is unyielding.

But the most interesting aspect of this Espace is its tacit acknowledgment that the genre it founded has gone far enough down the road to practicality. Instead, Renault has cleverly taken the Espace in a new direction, gambling that what MPV buyers really want, even more than another dozen cup-holders, is the chance to kid themselves that buying an MPV is a matter of choice rather than circumstance. Clearly it’s an illusion, yet its class and skilful execution get the Espace close to where it’s possible to suspend disbelief.

But Renault will make you pay for such sophistication. The cheapest V6 diesel Espace costs £28,985, the most expensive £33,735. It would be a shame if that were to deter those who need six or more seats yet want to drive with their hearts somewhere other than in their boots, for this is the car to deliver that dream.

VITAL STATISTICS
Model Renault Espace 3.0 dCi
Engine type V6 turbodiesel, 2958cc
Power/Torque 180bhp @ 4400rpm / 258 lb ft @ 1800rpm
Transmission Five-speed automatic
Suspension (front) MacPherson struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; (rear) torsion beam axle, trailing arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Tyres 225/55 R17
Fuel/CO2 29.7mpg (combined) / 252g/km
Top speed 127mph
Acceleration 0 to 60mph: 10.4sec
Company car tax £4,032 for a higher-rate taxpayer
Price £28,985
Verdict The most sophisticated MPV yet but flawed and too expensive