It’s a dish worth serving
DURING a long and distinguished detachment from reality, I have linked various motor cars with non sequiturs.
Kentucky Fried chicken is not one of them. However, the current end of days being marked by unavailability of KFC, as it is known in the land of the drive ‘thru,’ is worthy of comment.
This is a dish almost exclusively confined in its availability to car owners.
Very few people take a bus or train to an exciting finger-lickin’ feast.
Colonel Saunders may have travelled in a Surrey with a fringe on top but that is some time ago.
Things have moved on even if you apparently still have to wash with your tongue, the napkin having not made it to parts of the USA.
The reason, I suspect, is not that KFC is just a benevolent-bearded old man, but the original product and so perfected over many years.
Bringing us, with a side of beans, to the Nissan Qashqai.
It is 10 years since Nissan spooked the horses by launching what it billed as the car for the urban jungle.
Since then it has remained consistently at the top end of the sales charts , although now, having unleashed the beast, it comes under increasing pressure from quality opposition like the Peugeot 3008, Mazda CX-5 and SEAT Ateca – to name but a few.
Still the demand for the first of these new kids on the block remains strong and a recent facelift has pulled up the Qashqai’s socks with improved cabin quality and ride.
Some rivals capture the imagination with more technically engaging features, but this remains a benchmark for family practicality and space.
One unexpected benefit of the Qashqai’s development is that it has encouraged Nissan to take the X-Trail out of the pony-towing club and into competition with truly upmarket seven-seaters.
The specific version being served up today is the Tekna+ 130 dCi, powered by a 1,600cc Renault diesel which, via a six-speed manual gearbox, hits 62mph in 9.9 seconds while returning a combined fuel figure claimed to be 64.2mpg.
Clearly no racing car, but with good rear and boot space and frugal running costs, one a family with an eye on exterior good looks should consider.