Speed, luxury and beauty. The triad that intoxicates us at a young age and can still rekindle that childhood excitement in the most hard-bitten and world-weary of us. Yet, in spite of the ultimate car criteria, there are few things more boring in the wonderful world of cars than the family saloon.
Sorry, there is one thing more boring, the family estate. They're like watching reruns of televised Dáil debates. Thankfully, one company has been working hard to sass up the saloon and even make its estate more exciting. No mean feat.
The 407 might not have made it to the top of the European Car of the year list, but it's got the panache and charisma to win our vote for mid-range family saloon of the year. When matched with its new 1.6-litre HDi diesel engine, as in our test car, it not only reinvigorates a sector of the market that was in real need of a little design flair, but manages a little engineering coup for good measure.
First to those all-important looks. There's little on the market in this price bracket that offers the sort of sporty lines and big-car feel as the 407. Some find the gaping grille a little hard to stomach, but for us it fits so well with the sweeping bonnet and curves to make the car positively alluring.
Of course, styling is something that evokes passion. You either like it or loathe it. But that's the essence of a good car. They should rouse the senses for good or ill. Otherwise they're nothing more than tin boxes with spongy seats.
We're not saying the 407 is the ultimate work of art. One feature that didn't take our fancy on the SW was the chrome strip on the rear door. It's such an insignificant feature that it would not cross the mind of any sane person to complain about it, but given that we've already outlined our enthusiasm for the 407, we're entitled to nit-pick. The fonder you get of a car, the more annoyed you are by little features that let it down. This chrome strip harks back to the dark old days, when cheap chrome strips ran the length of the car.
But before this becomes a treatise on the merits of design, let's get down to brass tacks. This is a family estate and needs to be more than simply a pretty face.
In terms of its function, while undoubtedly roomy, it doesn't match the likes of the Opel Vectra in terms of load carrying capacity - the Vectra has 540 litres minimum and 1,850 litres maximum, against the 407 SW's 489 litres and 1,365 litres respectively. In fact it actually falls behind several of its main competitors in this regard. Nevertheless, it remains roomy and the low load height and wide door aperture helps it meet the desired utilitarian functions.
Peugeot has repeated the SW moniker on the estate as it did with the 206 and 307 versions. It has also taken the "panoramic" reinforced glass roof effect. The upside of this is cabin brightness that will help relieve even the darkest moods. The downside is that it does not retract - for reasons of rigidity - so when the summer comes, those bald patches may cook slowly under the sunlight, but will never turn the golden brown or lobster red they do with a sunroof fitted.
The rest of the interior trim is the normal 407 fare, easy to hand, stylish and spacious, with plenty of legroom. The French have finally cracked how to make a normal cabin look premium.
Up front and it's hard to raise the eyebrows of the cynical motoring hacks these days, but Peugeot's 1.6-litre diesel has managed it. The 110bhp engine, developed by Peugeot's parent group, PSA, in conjunction with Ford, is truly impressive. We were initially taken by it in the saloon, but had our doubts about its ability to carry the extra load when introduced on the SW version. Yet, despite the extra 148 kg of kerb weight it carries over its equivalent saloon, you never really notice any lag.
You do need to reach for the gearstick when under pressure to overtake, but thanks to well-set ratios and admirable torque, it pulls away quickly and evokes a confidence one would certainly not expect from such a large car when told it's powered by anything less than 2-litres.
And that's its magic - it matches others, but still manages fuel consumption in the mid-40s mpg during our week-long test. In fact, the only problem with the engine is the price. Despite the fact it falls into the lower band for Vehicle Registration Tax - 25 per cent as opposed to 30 per cent for all cars over 1,900 cc - the 1.6 diesel SW still hits the Irish market on a par with its 1.9-litre and 2-litre competitors.
Even allowing for the relatively high specification, with yet more airbags and the panoramic roof, this car should really beat the rest of the competitors on price without even breaking into a sweat. The fact that it's beaten in price by the bigger-engined Ford Mondeo is a black mark against it.
In the end, the SW is not just another roomy estate. Peugeot has done a good job beautifying the estate version and there's all that extra space in the boot. It handles exceptionally well for its size, rarely reminding you that there's all that extra metal out the back.
Some firms make better estates than saloons - Honda's Accord being one of the first to come to mind. With the SW Peugeot has done a good job, but it had a really tough task to improve on the original looks. For our money we'd still opt for the saloon, a gorgeous, sleek and striking car that has revitalised a rather staid and lacklustre saloon car segment. It's also got 430 litres of boot space, plenty for the average family.
With its gaping grille and lovely lines, it has devoured the myth of the traditional three-box format, proving that even the company repmobile can offer more than functional formality.