THERE could be a real battle between certain car makers over who really devised the multi-purpose vehicle.

The French like to think they invent all the best ideas, and Renault's Espace has long been the obvious example, even before the term MPV came into use.

The French company tells me the Espace made its debut here in 1984 and 'probably in mainland Europe in 1983'.

Eager to beat this, Mitsubishi claims that it created the MPV 'as we know it today' back in 1980 and put the Space Wagon on sale in the UK in 1982. Today's is the latest generation, revised last year.

Pioneer it may be, but the Mitsubishi is a largely neglected vehicle, especially as recent years have brought quite an onslaught of alternative people carriers which, according to some, the Space Wagon does not match.

Ford's Galaxy has raced to the front, leaving behind its sisters, the more exclusive VW Sharan and cheaper Seat Alhambra. All three are made together in Portugal.

There are many others Citroen Synergie, Fiat Ulysee, Peugeot 806, Toyota's highly rated Previa and Chrysler's big Voyager and now also a collection of mini-MPVs like the Renault Scenic and the current sales leader, Citroen's Picasso.

Posher makers turn away, though Mercedes had enough bottle to come up with the A-class. With a similar variation on a theme, Renault has now created the futuristic Avantime and VW has just announced that its Microbus concept will go into production.

The general view is that the Scenics and Picassos are handier than full-size MPVs yet still spacious enough for most families, and usually full of every possible bit of gadgetry to turn them into real family cars.

Once, when we were all satisfied with less, there were several vans with windows, sometimes called Dormobiles.

My father had a Ford minibus with the Dormobile treatment so we could sleep in it on two tours of Europe in the early 60s.

Forty years on, today's MPVs are all more sophisticated.

This very spacious seven-seater Space Wagon, now in its third generation, is available with either a 2.4 diesel engine or as the 2.0-litre petrol model which I've been driving.

The body design follows the familiar shape, more like an estate car than a taller van.

But there is a difference. Amid the burgeoning collection of rivals which largely adopt an oval shape, the Space Wagon's body design has a crisp, angular look, especially the bonnet line. Even so, the driver can enjoy the high-riding position which gives a commanding view of the world, and you also have a vast sense of open-ness.

This is not just in the front; my family, in the back, also praised the space. Well, it is called a Space Wagon.

It is slightly larger than its predecessor, but the external dimensions have not grown vastly. It remains easy to drive, and no-one need fear otherwise.

The Space Wagon leaves the overall feeling that it provides an ideal mix of versatility and manoeuvrability.

The space inside is impressive. It carries seven, in a 2-3-2 formation, and you can arrange these as you wish; they slide forward or back, lie fully flat, or can be folded up and tumbled forward as you need.

Any multi-purpose vehicle needs to be exactly that, and as well as being able to carry a large family, it needs flexibility for who-knows-what other purpose.

So the third row of seats can be removed completely, but if used as seats they are full size, though best-suited to lithe youngsters who need to weave past the central row of seats.

All are protected by a range of safety measures, varying from a high-mounted braking light to ABS with electronic brake-force distribution, and there's a long list of those nice little extras which make our motoring more of a pleasure not only air-con and electric windows all round, but also unexpected extras like front-seat arm rests.

Increasing the sense of space, the instrument panel flows into the the door trims, and you'll note useful storage areas placed throughout the car.

Car planners are at last beginning to get over their child-like delight at being able to fill any car with all manner of clever gadgetry, and are now settling down to offer only those which we find truly worthwhile.

Here there's an option of a colour navigation screen, but the standard fittings settle for genuinely useful info like temperature, fuel consumption (both at-this-moment and average), and remaining driving distance.