There’s just something about driving a van that can’t be beaten – Matt Saunders explains
They’re not fast, quiet, smooth, desirable or – in many obvious ways, at least – remotely ‘nice’.
They don’t have enticing engines or inviting interiors. They’re not always easy to fit into a parking space and are hopeless on the supermarket run. Very often they don’t even have enough seats. Yet there’s something a bit noble – wonderful, even – about driving a van.
When you’re in one, you invariably have a practical reason to be. And because that’s what you’re focused on, you don’t expect to enjoy yourself. Yet somehow you do. It’s a bit like borrowing a set of plumber’s spanners from a friend so you can fix your wobbly bathroom tap and discovering that they’re so clever that you break them out for almost anything. Changing a light bulb. Opening a high window. Scratching yourself in that hard-to-reach spot.
Big vans are the best. Climbing up high behind the wheel, for a start, makes you feel like Jerry Reed in Smokey and the Bandit. The seat and driving position you find there is always surprisingly comfortable and well laid out. Vans always have a healthy supply of storage cubbies and armrests. And because they sit you up so high in front of such a huge windscreen, you get a fantastic view of the road ahead, to make up for the non-existent one backwards in the rear-view mirror.
The gearlever is generally positioned high on the fascia, too, like in an old Civic Type R. Soon enough, you discover the steering lock. There’s loads of it. That means plenty of arm-twirling is called for on the big, raked steering wheel-but that just makes you feel like Ari Vatanen as you swing into your driveway.
The main point is that, although they’re big, vans can be surprisingly wieldy. And slotting them backwards perfectly into any marked bay, based only on what you can see in your elephantine door mirrors, brings a particular sort of satisfaction. If you get the chance to tow with one, it’s as if you’ve graduated to some master level of driving proficiency-like you deserve an MBE or something.
At speed, there’s still more to like. The elevated view down the road over the cars in front. The accessible torque of the diesel engine, the effective use of which keeps both your brain and your limbs engaged. And the willingness of the thing to whizz along, down country roads and around bends, at a rate that you just wouldn’t have credited.
Big vans look like they should fall over themselves when shown a corner, but they don’t. The long wheelbase and particular suspension geometry makes them inherently stable – so that they can be loaded to the gunwales and remain safe, obviously. But lightly loaded, they carry speed amusingly well. Anyone who has ever been harried along by a carpet fitter in a rush to get home for the football can tell you that much.
The way that modern vans have become so much better equipped, more comfortable, more refined and more cleverly kitted out than their equivalents used to be decades ago only enhances the appeal-to me, at least.
There’s a van rental place within a short stroll of my house, and I like to keep myself abreast of his latest arrivals – and my ‘man and van’ services have been used a few times this year. Thanks to the vehicles in question, they invariably come with a broad smile.
Source: Autocar
