Jeremy Clarkson of BBC’s Top Gear reviews Norway (oh, and the Mercedes ML 320).

Perhaps difficulty with communication is why the hotel room in which I stayed had a fold-out whiteboard nailed above the bed: so guests can use diagrams and cave drawings to explain to their girlfriends what they have in mind next.

I can’t imagine the whiteboard is for any sort of management meeting because in the whole of human history Norway’s only contributions have been the paperclip and the cheese slicer. Only Australia has achieved less, with the rotary washing line.

The worst thing about this car, though, is the gearlever. It’s mounted on the steering column, a system popularised in America when teenage boys and girls needed to cuddle up at the drive-in. But ignored in Europe because we tend to get out of the car to watch films. And have sex.

The verdict, then, on the M-class is pretty much the same as my verdict on Norway. Efficient and good fun, but odd and too expensive.