IF YOU hold this page a little farther away and squint, you should be able to make out the silhouette of a BMW X6.

I have been told more than once that the Ssangyong Actyon bears some resemblance to BMW's upcoming cross between a sports-utility vehicle and a coupe.

We leave you to decide whether that is flattery to Ssangyong or an insult to BMW. Or both.

After messing around with pickup trucks and peddling oversized cabs to taxi operators, Ssangyong is back to targeting the private car buyer under a new agency.

The facelifted Actyon has picked up a new front grille and a pair of roof rails, leaving everything else unchanged. Obviously, when you have a winning design, you don't want to ruin it.

As far as shock value goes, the Actyon is an unequalled jaw-dropping act. It even looks like its own jaws are ajar.

While adventurous styling can exact a toll on functionality, the Actyon's cabin - spacious enough for five - manages to be surprisingly practical. The only real victim in terms of packaging is the boot. It is big and wide enough to be useful but the cargo floor, which is set at the height of the wheel arch, is too high even for a fully grown Great Dane to leap onto.

On the dashboard, the essential controls are angled towards the driver, which is a nice touch, not to mention BMW-like.

The switchgear feels pleasantly robust and generally works well. Except for the gear knob, which is sticky to the touch from being exposed to our harsh temperatures.

With its progressive styling, you might expect this car to be unconventional beneath the skin. In truth, its mechanical bits are conventional to the point of being rudimentary.

The Actyon actually has a pickup truck version called the Actyon Sport, and so its underpinnings consist of a hardy ladder frame chassis held up by an independent front and live axle rear suspension.

Its 2.3-litre engine can do only so much with the Actyon's nearly 1.9-tonne mass. But at least the conventional set-up means that the vehicle will be tougher than anything you dare hurl at it.

And when you factor in the toughness with its eyeball-yanking looks, as well as its competitive pricing, the Actyon may come across as not half bad a proposition.

Of course, a BMW X6 would be much better.

The writer is editor of Torque, published by SPH Magazines.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Apr 5, 2008.