INVENTING the game does not guarantee success – if you don’t believe me, just ask the English cricket/football/ rugby team.

Citroen, though, has done rather better with the Berlingo Multispace.

It must have been at the 1996 British Motor Show that I first saw three concept cars based on the Berlingo van.

One of those was to become the Berlingo Multispace, the first van-derived car that I can recall. It went on to hit our shores in 1998.

It was briefly trumped by the Renault Kangoo, which became the first van-based small MPV with five doors.

But Citroen duly responded with a couple of sliding rear doors and with its modest dimensions, spacious interior, decent reliability and sensible price tag, the Berlingo soon became a firm family favourite.

And now there is a new one.

If the original was the first van-derived car, the new Berlingo Multispace goes one further.

It is a car derived from a van derived from a car – it sits on the same platform as the Peugeot 308 and C4 Picasso MPV, to name just two.

So what is it actually like?

A little bigger and a bit dearer than the model it largely – but not completely – replaces.

Just as with the Xsara Picasso MPV, Citroen has kept an old favourite in production.

The Berlingo First, as the old model is now known, is available in one trim spec only and with a choice of 1.4 petrol or 1.6 diesel engines, both delivering 75bhp.

New generation Multispaces are available with 1.6 petrol engines producing either 90 or 110bhp or 1.6 diesels

developing 75, 90 or 110bhp and in three trim levels: VT, VTR and XTR.

Citroen dealers Motor Mall let me loose in an XTR with the 90bhp oil burner.

The initial impression up front is one of space – both for the occupants and for the detritus of family living.

A massive cubby box divides the front seats and there is a large overhead shelf, along with underseat drawers, seatback pockets and underfloor traps in the second row footwell.

Rear seat space is decent, although the centre of the XTR’s three individual rear seats is not the best pew in the house.

The internal roof rack seemed a bizarre concept at first but did not impact on the extravagant headroom. It offers your

stepladders protection from the light-fingered brigade, although dripping boating or fishing gear is best kept

alfresco on the exterior roof rack.

Certainly in range-topping guise, the new Multispace ticks all the active family boxes.

Although some safety options, such as curtain airbags and stability programmes, are consigned to the options list, Berlingo offers Euro NCap four-star protection for adults, four-star child protection and two-star pedestrian protection.

There is air conditioning with heat-reflecting screen, blinds on the swing-out windows in the sliding doors, the outer two rear seats have Isofix child seat mountings and there are electric child locks with their status displayed on the trip computer.

And for when the ride-on toys have to go to the park or the pony needs a bale of hay, the boot is huge.

Just lift the tailgate and there behind the back seats and under the load blind is a 675-litre void.

Loading the boot to the roof takes 1,350 litres while taking out the rear seats frees up 3,000 litres of loadbay – that’s the same as the Mondeo estate and the Mondeo hatchback… combined.

So where do the savings show compared with a five-seat C4 Picasso which starts at £2.5K more than the cheapest Berlingo and peaks at more than £6K more than the dearest one?

Alloy wheels are consigned to the options list and the chunky electric wing mirrors, single slot CD, van-type switchgear and the hard plastics around the fascia hint at the Berlingo’s commercial roots.

The good news is that the driving experience does not, apart possibly from the high driving position.

I confess that it made me think initially that I was driving a wider vehicle than I actually was – I’m the same in Land Rover Defenders.

Controls are light and pleasant, the gear lever that sprouts conveniently from the dash is slick and the ride and handling like a mainstream hatchback.

The steering is fast and the turning circle tight.

On paper the performance is less than exciting, but as is usual with modern diesels, the reality is better than the stopwatch suggests.

That’s because there is plenty of urge in the 1,400 to 3,000 rev range in which real-world local motorists are likely to be driving it. The 90bhp diesel turns out a healthy 159lb/ft of torque at 1,750rpm.

That, along with a 1,300kg braked trailer capability, makes for a decent towing vehicle and indeed the new Multispace has just been voted the UK’s best-value towcar.

The Caravan Club competition saw almost 40 cars contesting five categories.

Although its trailer noseweight limit is 15kg less than the current model’s, at 55kg, the Berlingo Multispace 1.6HDi XTR saw off rivals from Hyundai, Kia, Peugeot and Skoda to win the sub-£16,000 Caravan Club Towcar of the Year 2009 award.

Judges heaped praise on the Multispace’s behaviour under tow, highlighting its lively response, great turning performance on the hill route, excellent visibility and unbeatable storage space and versatility in the cabin thanks to the removable rear seats, sliding doors, large glass area and interior roof bars.

In addition to its versatility and modest thirst, servicing is minimal. The new, extended-life cam belt for the 1.6HDi engine requires changing only every 150,000 miles or 10 years.

And the Berlingo L2 ivan announced just a couple of weeks ago, with an extra 250mm (nearly 10 inches) of load deck behind the rear wheels, paves the way for the seven-seater Berlingo Multispace with, apparently, double-folding and removable third-row seats.

That should be with us some time next year.

So for even more space, watch this one.