The new Ford Flex is hard-to-miss. That long and not-so-lanky exterior might have some people believe their seeing a highly stretched version of another make and model vehicle, but the Flex is absolutely its own breed. Flex’s most noticeable attribute is the roof, which comes in one of two colors (white suede or brilliant silver). The unique multi-panel Vista Roof conceals a vast interior. Flex’s overall length exceeds 16 feet, and its three rows of seats are – not surprising – very roomy. There is an abundance of cargo space: Fold the third row and have more than 43 cubic feet of cargo space, or fold the second and third row and have more than 83 cubic feet. Flex is no featherweight, carrying a curb weight of 4,468 pounds in the front wheel drive version and 4,640 pounds in the all wheel drive version. But to the surprise of driver (and riders), the Flex presents a quiet interior and serves as a nimble transporter whether on the freeways or cruising the subdivisions.

Various gadgets make the Flex even more unique, including the optional rear refrigerated console (mounted between the second row captain’s chairs). This onboard refrigerator cools room temperature bottled beverages in about two and half hours – which according to the marketers at Ford makes this in-vehicle cooling bin about 40 percent faster on the cool-down scale than a standard in-home refrigerator. On another performance scale, the Flex employs a 3.5-liter V6 (262 horsepower at 6250 rpm and 248 pounds-feet of torque at 4500 rpm). The engine mates to a six-speed automatic transmission. Per gallon fuel estimates for the front wheel drive Flex are 17 city and 24 highway and 16 city and 22 highway for the all wheel drive. MSRP of the Flex Limited AWD is $36,555.