18 Dec 07
All was well when the Caravelle rocked up. It was immediately pressed into action, transporting the 4Car team on an important business trip - an editorial meeting at the pub.
There's loads of space for six adults and we had plenty of fun playing with the seats, sliding, swivelling and contorting them into various positions with ease.
Even the driver had few complaints. The elevated driving position meant you have fine vision of the road ahead, while the tight engine serves up plenty of low-down pull, making light work of propelling the fully laden van.
Spending the extra on parking sensors has made the huge VW a breeze to park - if you can find a space that stretches to more than 5m in length.
Unfortunately, parking sensors and huge door mirrors couldn't save the Caravelle from a nasty scrape just days after it arrived, a low wall in an unlit supermarket car park leaving a permanent chalky-white reminder along the bottom of a sliding door.
Then real disaster struck. A mini-cabbing neighbour bought an identical Caravelle to ours, replacing his ageing Previa. Worse still, he's not the only one, suddenly everywhere we look in London, Caravelles are popping up with the luminous green private licence badges in the window.
We should take it as a compliment: those who value toughness, space and versatility over everything else are legitimising our decision. The downside is we now know it's only a matter of time before someone attempts to hail us.
Drastic action is needed. It's time to hit the accessories catalogue...
