It is fairly sophisticated technically, with four-wheel drive, a six-speed close ratio manual gearbox, and other refinements. Driving it confirms the external impression - it is fast, and the sports seats are useful in supporting the driver in what is very much a sports car internally, with good instrumentation. Claudine thought it was too macho internally, and the ride in the back a bit too firm.Morten Hussmann, 38 Media relations manager, Wendover USUAL CAR: AUDI A6 AVANTThis is Mazda's attempt to wrap up a sports car in a saloon. Although Mazda has made the front quite masculine, there's nothing sporty about the rest of the design, and the interior lacks that sporty feel. It's functional, however, and there's plenty of space both on the back and front seat You immediately feel that you're driving a mean machine.

It's fast, lively and has a hard suspension which could be unpleasant for back-seat passengers on longer journeys The six-speed gearbox is smooth and provides lots of action. It would appeal to the family man who likes a lot of power, and who doesn't want to stand out.. Poor old Coventry. And it's true that Peugeot wouldn't have closed the Ryton assembly plant - couldn't have - if British employment law was as strict as it is in France But it isn't.

So the jobs are exported across the Channel and another little bit of our automotive spirit dies. The truth is that the heart had been ripped out of Ryton long, long ago It had been in trouble since the early 1960s. It was one of the more productive bits of the old Rootes Group empire, making solid Hillman Minxes, sporty Sunbeams and imperious Humbers, but it still had its problems: low productivity, indifferent quality, strikes. Rootes was rescued by Chrysler of America in the 1960s, which wanted a European arm just like Ford and General Motors (Vauxhall). By 1975 it had had enough and turned to the Government for financial help.

Chrysler blackmailed the Wilson administration with a threat to shut Chrysler UK in weeks if it didn't get subsidies. In return, the company signed a "planning agreement", the only one between a private concern and the Labour Government. In 1978 the agreement was ignored by Chrysler which sold its European operations to Peugeot for $1. Ryton survived assembling a French Chrysler (Simca), the Alpine, and then Peugeots: a "screwdriver" plant. At that point, three decades ago rather than last week, the engineering and design capability went and Peugeot won the real prize - the Rootes/ Chrysler dealer network through which more and more Peugeots would be profitably sold and serviced. Peugeot also gained the distinction of being a "home" make with access to the then patriotic company-car buyers That's why you see so many Pugs on the road.