American maker Jeep is planning a major expansion of its model range and leading the way is its new Commander, the first car it has ever made with three rows of seats. The Commander is based on the Grand Cherokee and despite the need to accommodate three rows is less than two inches longer. Extra space is achieved by making the car very boxy in style, reminiscent of the Cherokee model launched here in the early 90s. But this boxy Jeep shape goes back still further. The Wagoneer, which I can remember reading about in Autocar magazine when I was still a schoolboy in the 60s, was very similar. The Wagoneer, later succeeded by various Cherokee models, was a 4x4 estate that hit UK roads even before the Range Rover was a prototype. Jeep, once again, was the leader in the field although it took Land Rover to fully exploit the product and realise the luxury niche that was available, albeit by accident rather than design. While the cars of the 60s were fairly basic, the new Commander is a luxury wagon by comparison, although it still works out relatively cheap to buy. You can have the Predator version on the road for £27,490 with the three litre V6 diesel engine. Most buyers are more likely to go for the £31,035 Limited diesel, the car I have been driving. The ultimate Commander is the £34,530 5.7 litre Limited with a V8 petrol engine. The latter is not for the faint hearted as the running costs must be phenomenal. Even the diesels are pretty tough on the wallet and I was struggling to best 23 mpg in the car I had. Its 17 gallon tank it won't take you an awful long way between fills, especially if you go crawling around off-road. The Commander is one impressive car in a big sort of way, very much in the mould of the massive Hummer, as a friend of ours observed. In fact that's what he thought the Commander was until I put him straight. The butchness of the Commander is accentuated by the various chromed Allen key heads, some real, some fake, found dotted around the interior and exterior of the Commander. But it also delivers - it will pull 3.3 tonnes. Black paint on the test car, combined with rear privacy glass, made it look like one of those American secret service chariots you see in the motorcades on the news. The illusion is boosted on the Commander by the step-style rear bumper and grab handles that continue the run of the roof rails down the rear of the car. I could imagine the security men hanging off the back, guns bulging beneath their jackets, as I swept through the city traffic... Although the Commander has three rows of seats, it won't really accommodate seven adults. It has "theatre style" seating where the rows get progressively higher as you go back through the car so their occupants get a better view out. As a result, headroom in the third row is not great, and nor is legroom, either. But it will easily take children, who will not find it as difficult or undignified as adults would to scramble into place. With all three rows in place there's very little luggage space, but fold the rear row and there's more than a cubic metre. Fold the second row and this reaches 1,939 cubic metres. The seats merely fold with their backrests flopping onto the bases, so load height is restricted. Even so, most families who enjoy the outdoor life would find the Commander suits them very well. Maurice Hardy Annette's View Take a look at the Jeep Commander and you will be overwhelmed by its size. But the truth is that it shrinks around you once you are in it and parking is helped on the Limited models at least by the standard front and rear parking sensors. Its most obvious rival is the Land Rover Discovery, which looks quite sophisticated in comparison to the Jeep despite many people likening it to another Ford product, the Transit van, because of its square shape. But you would be hard pressed not to like the utilitarian shape of the Commander, which is dominated at the front by the massive chrome seven slat grille. It also gets chunky alloy wheels shod with Pirelli all terrain tyres that help it look the part - they also deliver off-road, where the car has masses of grip and ground clearance. This one is a true off-roader. On road, the tyres caught me out once on a wet white line and cats' eyes when there was a momentary loss of grip but overall this car does very well on-road and can be driven with some enthusiasm. It tends to handle better when travelling with more than one passenger in the car and the ride is much more settled and serene than you find on the air-sprung Discovery and Range Rover. Car: Jeep Commander 3.0 CRD Limited Does it fit your ego?... 0-62 mph: 9.0 secs Top speed: 118 mph Bhp: 215 @ 4000 rpm Torque: 376 lb ft @ 1600 rpm ...and your wallet?... Price: £31,035 Urban: 20.9 mpg Extra urban: 30.7 mpg Combined: 26.2 mpg CO2 emissions: 284 g/km Insurance Group: 14 Best bits: seven seat practicality; gutsy diesel motor; great value for money.