Toyota C-HR

From £25,000 (est’d) Available: Spring 2017

IT’S hard to believe that under this wild exterior there lurks a practical five-door family hatchback based on Toyota’s pious Prius hybrid. Like the LC500 coupé from sister brand Lexus, the new Toyota C-HR started life as a concept car and hasn’t been watered down much for the showrooms. The hybrid petrol-electric powerplant from the Prius means it avoids road tax for now, and claims to cover 76mpg. There’s no diesel engine available: if you don’t want a hybrid you can order the C-HR with a clever little 1.2-litre petrol engine which uses turbocharging to give it sufficient oomph. You can also order the 1.2 with four-wheel drive. Toyota is on a mission to erase its reputation for making boring cars. Well, the C-HR certainly doesn’t look dull.