Of all the cars I’ve test driven so far in 2022 (a motley group that includes a hybrid Ferrari and an electric BMW balanced like a mid-engined Porsche), who would have thought that the funkiest looking one would be an enormous Korean multi-purpose vehicle (MPV)?

Funkiness is relative, of course, but it’s impossible to lay eyes on a Hyundai Staria and not want to do several slow laps of the car, scratching your chin while you take in its ultra smooth lines. It looks particularly space age in black, which gives it the appearance of something hewn from solid obsidian, while the slim light bar that stretches across the front end only adds to the impression that it’s something beamed here from the future, or perhaps outer space. Much of that look carries over inside the Staria, where the slick cabin lighting does plenty to give things a cool, futuristic cast.

Wouldn’t you just love to have dinner with the man who conceived the Staria, though? What a sense of humour he must have, to have taken an MPV — basically the most unglamorous kind of car there is — and turned it into something that would look at home in a film set half a century from now.

Still, the Staria is a proper MPV at heart, so its basic form is still along box-with-wheels lines. What a big box, too: the Hyundai is nearly as lengthy as a long-wheelbase Mercedes S-Class and slightly wider, and it’s all of 199 cm tall. That height means the tailgate is so long, you have to jump out of the way when it opens electrically, or risk getting nailed in the plums.

Of course, the giant body only means the Staria is cavernous inside. It seats 7 people and just about everyone inside has room to swing a cat. The prime seats are those in the middle row, which are individual armchairs that recline and have built-in fans to cool your buttocks and lower back, and even come with fold-up leg rests. One doesn’t so much sit back in this car as lie down.

A Hyundai rep compared them to premium economy seats, but I’d rather be in the Staria than in any plane’s premium economy cabin, that’s for sure. I’d much rather be in those second-row armchairs than in the driver’s seat, too. As a driving experience, the giant Hyundai isn’t terrible, but it does conform to the family bus feel that makes most big MPVs so soul-destroying. It doesn’t particularly care for corners, and the steering feels pretty ponderous. At least it has quite a mighty engine in the form of a 3.5-litre V6, and if you’re a bit heavy on the right pedal moving off from the lights, the Staria has an endearing way of screeching its front tyres.

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Given the car’s sheer size, many things feel like a stretch from the driver’s seat, so it’s just as well there are buttons on the steering wheel for the sound system, or you’ll wish you had a gorilla’s arms every time you want to crank up the music.

Who am I kidding, though? The target market for the Staria isn’t really a frustrated bus captain, but more likely a captain of industry. This is a car you have on the company fleet so your top execs can lounge in the back while being shuttled to meetings, pondering whatever it is C-suite people ponder.

The size of the thing does entail a clear limitation, in that it isn’t actually able to fit into some multi-storey car parks, so using your Staria with a chauffeur is the obvious way to go. Viewed in that light it’s actually something of a bargain, given how it’s half the price of a Mercedes S-Class, and offers just about as much comfort in the back. And while it won’t get you into space, this is one Hyundai that can really sell a person on the idea of travelling in space.

Hyundai Staria

Engine 3,470 cc, V6 Power 272 hp at 6,400 rpm Torque 331 Nm at 5,000 rpm Gearbox 8-speed automatic 0-100km/h 8.9 seconds Top Speed 210 km/h Fuel Efficiency 11.1 L/100km Agent Komoco Motors Price S$245,999 with COE Available Now