There's a quite surprising B-segment car on the South African market that quietly gets on with transporting people in excellent comfort and safety without screaming out its presence.
It won't shake the earth in the fashion stakes, it won't set the race track alight and it has no boy-racer appeal of note. It's doubtful James Bond would ever drive one, power-hungry politicians would scoff at the idea and nose-up film stars will walk straight by it without a second glance.
Rap artists probably won't even know what it is unless they have their crack-addled heads pushed right into the badge on the grille.
I'm talking about VW's understated Passat.
The last Passat I drove before I was handed this brand-new 1.8-litre TSi Comfortline Tiptronic was one from the early 1980's that belonged to the lieutenant who commanded my platoon at Infantry School, Oudtshoorn, in 1983.
One still sees one or two examples of that model on the road but they're rare and were never all that highly rated. The current Passat may well be as underrated but that would be an oversight on the part of today's drivers.
It's difficult, to say the least, to test-drive a car that shares so many of its underpinnings with the earlier Audi A4, its somewhat more upmarket sister. It's rather difficult to compare it to anything, really, if one wants to put it in context somewhere.
But the main finding of my test drive was that of a very comfortable, spacious family sedan with a high level of life-easing gizmos and safety equipment, without screaming it out from the rooftops.
Design-wise, it has both its attractions and detractions. Despite a few sharp edges and lines that here and there tend towards the odd, the Passat might appear to be well-camouflaged when hidden in a shopping-mall car park.
It's as quiet in looks as it is in presence and few young boys will ever say "I want one like that when I grow up".
But one could be forgiven for assuming the boffins who do the interior designs of the Audis also had a hand inside the Passat. It really is very nice.
For one thing, the ergonomics are generous and kind. I have a history of spinal disaster and for me a car's seats are good when I don't notice them. I had to make a point of noticing those of the Passat.
To get in and out of the car is as easy on the old bones as the seats. Lots of leg room and nice, wide doors contribute to that in no small way.
No slouch
Dynamically, it's no sports car - but then it's no slouch either.
There's some typical front-wheel-drive understeer but the Passat has calm and forgiving suspension, sprung softly enough to pamper without ominous body roll or panic attacks in corners when driven the way it should be.
Its 1.8-litre, turbocharged engine, very much as in the earlier Golf GTi but now with direct injection, has enough spirit for generous overtaking acceleration without neck-jerking, rubber-burning excess and still performs quite nicely with four grown-ups in the car.
It has a huge boot, making it a good family car with lots of space in which to pack all the extras for a holiday getaway. One might even consider a tent without renting a trailer.
No nonsense
It will also be quite fuel-efficient on the open road. The best I achieved was a shade over eight litres/100km but that was with some really conservative driving. I got 10.2 litres/100km in an urban/open road mix, which is about par for the course with a two-litre engine.
What made the Passat special was the way it got on with the job, quietly. It seemed to be a no-nonsense get-in-and-drive sort of vehicle.
Of course, no motoring writer is a prophet - who can say what might go wrong when the car hits 50 000km? - but the car's build quality also left a good impression.
When it comes to quiet and unobtrusive comfort, one could do worse than a Passat. Some would call it boring but often that's just another word for dependable.