6am drinking coffee, vapours steaming from the cheap thermal cup combine with the petrochemical plastic smell of the interior. Outside it is just above freezing but warm air issues from the vents. The radio hums quietly, it’s the BBC announcing the news. Traffic is quiet to non-existent, from your vantage point you peer over hedges startling a fox. The road is wet and cadences of water fill the arches upon every puddle. Progress is swift as the headlights eke towards the horizon. You’re inexplicably content, knowing the day has just begun.
There is a childlike part of me that adores driving vans; I actively look forward to the new Transit or Transporter as much as I do most cars. I like the driving position, balloon tyres and great headlights. I like the big mirrors and the storage bins scattered piecemeal throughout the interior. I like their diesel engines clatter and their lack of pretention.
On one of many trips, a good friend and I took my Transit to Saalbach in Austria. In the back, snowboards and winter gear was safely stowed. The van, only just run in managed the 1000 miles comfortably in 16hrs. On the Autobahns it sat on its limiter at 114mph. We felt sure delimited there was 120mph for the taking. The snow was great for boarding, appalling for driving and as I had neglected to fit winter tyres we got a first hand impression of the Transits dynamics. It performed flawlessly, continuing undaunted through the Austrian winter. It was brilliant.
What makes a van exciting isn’t just the places it can take you, its what you can do with it. With a van you can move house or collect a motorcycle. You can fit a kitchen and nip to the local drive thru. At the weekend you can grab your mates and go surf, sleeping in the back, freezing your knackers off but having fun.
In winter when Britain grinds to a halt on its biannual snow day the delivery vans are still out, still getting though. Tradespeople every day cover miles, move timber and smoke scraggy roll ups in their vans. They are relied on for millions of people’s livelihoods, small businesses thrive with them and we cannot do without them.
There really is nothing they cannot do, get yourself one today and be smug.
The Driven Wheel 