An unusual and wondrous beast – the vehicle is so boxy you could be forgiven for convinced that the designers were dealing with a retro phase, and opened it on 1960s delivery vans.

Pulled along by a cost-effective 1.5 litre engine giving 108PS, the xB will require a great deal of imaginative work within the dealer boutique (that is how this equipment is bought) to show it into something desirable.

Yet despite its apparent insufficient visual charm the model is selling well within the trend-setting state of California, where it’s being used as a latter-day equal to the woodie surfer wagon of the fifties.