The mid-sized hatch first had a crack in the mid-1990s, presenting a stylish but bland-to-drive offering that soon disappeared in a fog of buyer disinterest.

Blandness is not a death sentence for all car’s sales future, but for a French make that is expected to show something at least a little inventive, a lack of character is not allowed for long. As for the original Laguna, not even the Renault faithful were interested. It, along with Renault’s Aisian presence, disappeared for a few years.

When the reinvigorated Company had another go at relaunching the Renault Laguna back in 2002, we all waited to see what the market would make of it, and what sort of car it was.

Unfortunately, it didn’t matter. The marketplace again voted with its feet, walking straight past Renault showrooms.

But what the actual car was like was a happier story.

The Laguna was available as both a hatchback and station wagon, but initially only in Authentic mid-spec and Privilege upper-spec trim levels, and only with the 3.0-liter V6 engine.

In the past, we’ve often plumped for the four-cylinder versions of European cars on the basis that they’re usually the home-market version and all the better for it. But this time, the V6 proved itself to be worth the extra money if only for its refinement and relaxed drive.

Nothing really was wrong with the 2.0-liter engine, and it did offer a manual gearbox (which the V6 didn’t). But buyers in that segment of the market wanted automatic transmissions, and the four-cylinder car dropped the ball by using a four-speed auto compared with the V6′s five-speed unit.

So the V6 was the one to have, but it wasn’t perfect.

The four-speed engine was smooth and refined, but it didn’t really offer a quick level of acceleration. But that was the least of it.

The main problem was the gearbox, a fully electronic unit with fly-by-wire technology.

It was easily confused.

And even when it was left to its own devices, it could sometimes throw a jagged, clunky shift into the mix for no apparent reason.

The rest of the driving experience was hardly typical of a European medium-sized, front-wheel-drive car.

Cornering was relatively flat and the ride trod the middle ground between plush and controlled, but at the same time the Laguna managed some of that long-lost French magic-carpet quality.

The beauty of it all was the way it came together. It also confirmed the old view that Europe really does have some of the best suspension engineers around.

But the thing that really should have carried the Laguna a bit further up people’s shortlists was its stunning safety rating.

In independent testing, it was the world’s first car to achieve five stars out of five for occupant safety.

That five-star rating is probably the Laguna’s biggest-selling point as a second-hand car, even today. Need to know:

 

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