Meriva VXR

The wild relation of its practical Meriva cousin, the Meriva VXR was full-on fun. Sporty styling, large bumpers and 17-inch six-spoke alloy wheels. It featured a six-speed manual gearbox, and lowered and uprated VXR sports suspension with Electronic Stability Programme. The top-of-the-line 1.6-litre engine achieved eyebrow-raising power and torque figures of 82.5kW/l and 143Nm/l with a top speed of 137mph. A quick press on the accelerator kicked in the overboost function to provide 16% more torque for a couple of seconds.

In addition to port fuel injection and a fixed valvetrain, the concept included the option for the use of alternate fuels in the intake manifold.