Seat Alhambra

Price £28,395

0-62mph 10.2 seconds

Top speed 124mph

MPG 56.5

CO2 130g/km

It was the last day of the summer holidays and ahead of me stretched an all-day drive from Callas near the south coast of France to Calais in the north. My family were horrified at the prospect of spending “hours and hours and hours” on the go, but I’ve always loved a road marathon. We started at 6am and the adventure got off to a good start when we found ourselves sharing the carriageway with a pair of Hell’s Angels. One of them had a pillion passenger that turned out to be a large dog wearing tank commander goggles, jowls flapping in a haze of drool. Later, we stopped at an aire and queued for coffee behind a couple who’d brought their budgies on holiday in a cage. They were called Flo and Matisse (the birds, not the people). Later still, we drove through a trio of towns in the Loire called Fussy, Bussy and Jussy…

We caught the ferry with minutes to spare. We’d driven 700 miles in 11 hours without a hitch, without road works, with barely a red light. We crossed the Channel and the final 70-mile leg was a riot of speed restrictions, lane closures, delays and even some poor soul walking on the M2… The real star of our French odyssey, however, was the Seat Alhambra in which we cruised along those endless miles of silky Gallic tarmac.

For a vehicle named after one of the most aesthetically sumptuous palaces in Spain, the Alhambra is a triumph of blandness. Its don’t-look-at-me styling seems untroubled by a designer’s eye. It first came into existence in 1996 to compete with the early pioneers of the MPV class – Renault’s Espace, Citroën’s C8 and Peugeot’s 807. All three have since either been thoroughly redesigned or dispatched to the great car-breaker in the sky, but not the Alhambra. It’s still here and it is as resolutely boxy as ever.

Don’t dismiss its understated nature as being in any way anaemic. The Alhambra is a tough trooper and the more time you spend in it, the more you will appreciate its simple charms. It is effortless and pleasant to drive. At the top of the range is a 181bhp 2-litre TDi, complete with six-speed DSG gearbox. Two other engines are available – a 148bhp version of the same turbo diesel (this is likely to be the big seller) and a 148bhp 1.4 TSI petrol motor. The handling is fine, but the car’s USP is, of course, its load-lugging ability. One of the best features are the large sliding rear doors. These are so much more practical than traditional doors. Clambering in and out in tight spaces is more possible and the wider aperture makes clipping in young toddlers a doddle. My 85-year-old mother-in-law also found it much easier to get in and out. There is a third row of seats tucked in the back and the flexible seating system makes them a usable option as opposed to the usual squish-fest.

Being a Seat, the equipment levels are high; even the entry-level has alloys, Bluetooth and parking sensors as standard. The Alhambra is a thoroughly modern, near faultlessly capable MPV. And there’s a beauty in that…

Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MartinLove166