The Commander is the first member of the Jeep family to offer seven seats as standard.

As such, it is probably one of the safest and most versatile seven-seaters around.

With its "classic" looks (some would say utilitarian), it has the air of a rugged and capable workhorse.

Indeed, although a new design, its upright stance harks back to earlier Jeep styling. But it does allow an immense amount of room inside - and the stepped roof allows plenty of headroom for all seven occupants.

The two models available in the UK, the Predator and Limited, both use the very capable and potent Mercedes 3.0-litre V6 diesel.

Which is a good thing because there are loads of them about, so servicing and maintenance later in life should present no problems at all.

The Commander's looks belie its surprisingly luxurious interior. From the outside you could imagine a farmer taking his family to the market via the short route through the slurry.

Inside, the comfort factor is elaborate, despite the occasional use of budget plastics, with leather seats and wood trim and luxuries like a drop-down DVD player with headphones, remote controls and separate hi-fi controls right at the back for the two travelling "tourist class".

Adding to the Commander's comfort factor is the laudably quiet engine, coupled with relatively low road noise.

We found normal conversation quite comfortable at 105mph, though due to the Jeep's shape there is noticeable wind noise. Like many off-roaders, particularly the Americans, the suspension is a bit on the soft side for our usual British tastes, but the high seating position and imposing presence of the Commander add to a feeling of security.

Inevitably, the seats provide little side support and taking bends at any speed can result in a certain amount of sliding around - few American roads have tight bends and American cars are generally not designed for spirited cornering...

But I thoroughly enjoyed my 500 miles of both on and off-road driving.

The turning circle is good for such a large vehicle and rear visibility is reasonable thanks to commendably large door mirrors, though the parking assist, which is standard on the Limited model, is pretty useful when in town. Forward viz is limited by large A-pillars.

There are three driving position memories and, like most cars in the Chrysler Jeep family, the simple manual gearbox over-ride works well; as does the electronic low ratio/differential lock selector - they can be a bit tricky on some off-roaders.

With ground clearance of nearly nine inches and a wading depth of over 20 inches, the Commander is an accomplished off-roader. In the right hands it can tackle some pretty hairy stuff and is certainly not restricted to ambling across the fields at the local point-to-point.

To ensure its off-road credentials, the Commander uses the same 4x4 systems, suspension and powertrains as the highly-regarded Grand Cherokee.

Performance is surprisingly lively with a 0-60mph figure of under nine seconds and a top speed of 118mph. But bear in mind that with a kerbweight of nearly two and a half tons, a heavy right foot will affect fuel consumption - I achieved 21.8mpg The official combined fuel economy figure is 26.2mpg and, although not the most frugal in its class, the sophisticated V6 meets the Euro 4 emission standard and has a standard particulate filter.

Maximum power is 215bhp at 4,000rpm and the hefty torque figure of 376lb/ft arrives at a lowly 1,600rpm making the Commander a good towing proposition.

On the road price is £27,490 for the Predator and £31,490 for the Limited.