Report 1. Taking it to the C-MAX

Get me out of Geneva. This country’s famous neutrality may have made it a beacon for watch enthusiasts, Nazi-bankers and semi-retired prostitutes, but there’s no wildness, chaos or funkiness here. Here lies a pretty yet pretty characterless place, the most remarkable fact I’ve discovered this time round being it’s illegal to flush your toilet after 10PM. I think I’ll continue to pay my taxes and live the civic life in England, thanks.

Ford C-MAX in Les Houches

Post Geneva Motor Show duties is the first time I’ve been properly acquainted with my new Ford C-MAX long-termer. The wheels in question are a 1.6-litre TDCi diesel Titanium with barely 800-miles on the odo after Alex’s trip out here.  But before we head out with friends to the cloudless blue skies of Les Montagnes, we stop off at the Hotel du Parc des Eaux Vives to snap a convoy of Jaguar E-Types celebrating 50-years of what Charlie Sheen calls ‘winning.’

Here's the C-MAX cabin I'm going to be getting incredibly familiar with

Fifty years ago, the E-Type made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show and stole all the headlines. Part of the press ceremony took place in these very grand settings and with Jaguar test god Norman Dewis in tow, there was a sense of occasion in us being there second time round. But also a bit weird. You see, if you weren’t a driver or a passenger in one of those fifty E-Types, you didn’t really feel accepted, even as a spectator. When the smiles of mutual congratulation continued to beam from silver service table to table inside, I didn’t hang around for fear of being asked to serve the apéritifs. Just chance to get my own souvenir of the event with my less snooty road trip brother the Ford C-MAX.

Sadly, this photo never made the official Jaguar E-Type 50th Anniversary press release

I accept the C-MAX doesn’t look appreciably different from the rest of the Ford range, and that silver hue makes it look like some sort of hero to the bland. But this was never going to be a car that would blow me away with its size, style or grandeur. This was a slow burn car that would (hopefully) always impress by what it did. And at the moment, it’s transporting four large blokes, their luggage and snowboards in unbelievable levels of comfort and refinement for this price point.

Strong

I’ll leave the 1.6-litre oil burner for another report as at 1200-miles, we’re still at the bedding-in stage. So let’s start and end my first long termer report with an MOTD stylee two good, two bad.

Two good:

1. How it drives -- Amazing body control, nicely weighted EPAS steering and good damping. I reckon this could keep up with a Ford Focus on the twisty stuff, it’s that good.

2. The heated front and rear windscreens -- Even when I’m struggling to take in bracing lungfuls of icy air, the heated front and rear windscreens on the C-MAX manage to thaw a -4 degree frost in minutes. The diesel engine clatter returns to a distant hum just moments after pushing the starter button, too.

Two bad:

1. Hill-start assist feels odd. It’s a subtle intervention on small gradients but it feels jerky and uncomfortable on steeper inclines. I think I’d prefer to master my clutch control.

2. Don’t have a hangover and then drive the C-MAX in the evening. Honestly, those LED roof lights give it bus station bright luminescence on entry and yet weirdly, you could still do with a flashlight in the boot. Some reappropriation of LEDs wouldn’t go a miss.

À bientôt!

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