Now that owning a 4x4 is considered an eco-crime, punishable by ideological reconstruction through self criticism and also banging on your car roof, there is clearly reason to own cars like the Rav2. It looks like a 4x4 but is front wheel drive so you get the image without, er, well without what?
The truth is that 4x4s are unjustly maligned and the real objection , like fox hunting, is based on envy and the class politics of the student union bar.
Still, someone thinks the idea of a non off road off roader is a good one or Nissan would not have launched the Qashqai.
Personally I can’t see the point in driving around incurring the wrath of the Swampy tendency and being pelted with cat poo if your car lacks the mechanical hardware to spearhead a small military insurgence. What do you do, hang one of those diamond shaped signs in the back: ‘Only 2x2, please don’t shout at me?’
Against this backcloth I wondered about the Nissan Kumquat. Top-of-the-range two-litre models are available as a 4x4 option but the1.6 litre Cashcards are front-wheel drive.
The thing is they look like crossover 4x4s, side scuff guards, elevated body and a general butchness.
So expect angry cyclists to hammer on the roof while lacking the ability to follow them home and plough up their herbaceous boarders.
Now, you may think the Qashanova is spawned by one of those weird Tokyo show concepts like the Bongo Bongo Friendee but was designed in Paddington and engineered in Bedfordshire. Nissan says it is where the family hatchback is going.
Brilliant.The future isn’t garlic bread, its environ-mentalist bile pie.
Actually, this is a clever car. Here’s why.
For a start the Qashqai is far from boring inside or out and that’s not true of its competitors.
Then there’s the space gained from using a crossover body shape. Yes, it may not have seven seats and a flip up kennels but there is ample room for five and a very good boot area.
No family car is complete these days without places to stow essentials like small children and Game Boys. Qashqai has a massive glove box and underseat storage as well as a central box.
The Qashqai is hardly likely to attract buyers for its performance, the entry level 1.6 takes a leisurely 12 seconds to 60mph and , like the Irish cricket team, only just breaks the100 mark. But it will return over 40mpg which is family friendly in the extreme. And so is the £15,000 price tag for the middle of the range Acenta.
On the road? Smooth, quiet and comfortable with surprisingly good handling.
Of course, the question of just what sort of animal a Qashqai is should be addressed to Nissan. But if we take our answer from the advertising campaign, it’s a skateboard.

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