FORGET the Ferrari, banish the Bentley; if you want to stand out from the crowd you need the new Volvo S60 Cross Country.

This is a car which is going to be a very rare sight indeed on British roads.

Volvo reckons it will sell only 100 of these gently toughened saloons here each year, while explaining they will be much more popular in India and South America.

They're both areas of the world where a saloon car shape in seen as prestigious; here in the UK we favour the practicality of a hatchback or estate and buy many fewer booted saloons.

Volvo meets part of that market by offering the new Cross Country as an V60 estate alongside the S60 saloon and expects to sell 850 of them in a year; rendering it a still rare sight but not in the hen's teeth way of the saloon.

Both sit near the pinnacle of a broad S/V60 range that starts at £21,005 for the S60 with 2.0-litre petrol power (the V60 estate is another £1,200) and are aimed at owners who want a car that stands out from the crowd, while offering a little more country lane ability.

That latter attribute comes from suspension that pushes the Cross Country versions 65mm higher above the road (or grassy field) than standard cars and should help if you live along a bumpy, rutted lane.

That's the only genuinely useful upgrade for the 'active lifestyle' sort of buyer so beloved of car companies these days. The alloy looking skid plates under front and rear bumpers are styling touches only, helping onlookers tell the car apart from non-Cross Country versions if they've not already clocked its unique design of alloy wheel or black radiator grille or modest plastic wheelarch extensions.

Opt for the most expensive car in the S60 range, the £36,525 All-Wheel-Drive Geartronic Cross Country Lux Nav and you gain all-wheel drive and automatic gearbox, although the engine is an older 2,400cc five-cylinder unit that produces notably poorer economy and emissions figures than the car tested here.

It makes the same 187bhp as the newer 2.0-litre engine in the test car but with a little more low speed pulling power and the benefit of automatic gears if you're happy to pay at the pumps for an easier life.

The S60 Cross Country D4 Manual Lux Nav comes in a single specification at £33,695 and it's a pretty luxurious take on country living.

Standard kit includes leather upholstery, satellite navigation, 18 inch alloy wheels, headlight washers, climate control, cruise control, auto dimming interior mirror and rear centre armrest with storage and cupholders. Surprisingly, heated front seats are extra, as part of an optional £675 winter pack. Another £150 buys a slim line spare wheel in place of a can of gloop.

Slipping into the driver's seat of the S60 Cross Country brings you face to face with a dashboard that looks a lot like those you'll find in most other current Volvos - and that's a good thing. It means the instruments are big and easy to read and the switches for everything from heating to adjusting the radio are bold and obvious, as though out there by thoroughly logical Swedes.

Then you start up and move off, surprised to find a manual gearchange in a car that seems posh enough to take the auto route. But it's an easy change to use and the engine is responsive enough to let you hang on to higher gears around town. It will also help on the economy front.

My brief drive showed a respectable 41mpg on the trip computer (67.3mpg is the official, but always optimistic average) after a journey that gave no space to test the car's 130mph top speed or sprint to 62mph in 7.7 seconds.

What was tested on some poor Cotswolds' roads was a ride that delighted with the way it soaked up the bumps and constant little surface irritations that come with any UK drive these days.

Looks like that modest band of S60 Cross Country owners are going to reach their weekend holiday cottage in some comfort.