Want to put the fun back into driving? Get a van

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 lik