Vans are never exciting vehicles to drive, often taking the zest for life before you even hit third gear. They are heavy, slow and usually look like a big cardboard box on wheels. Without personality or glamour, they clog our roads and highways like cholesterol in the arteries of a fat man. The drivers of these automotive abominations are often the most inconsiderate, rude, and ignorant people to ever get behind the wheel, annoying and irritating other road users at every corner. So, as you can probably guess, I’m not the biggest fan of light commercial vehicles, or those who drive them.

Perhaps I have started this article on the wrong foot; It’s hard to get excited or enthusiastic about trucks though. They are inventions of practicality, less form and more function, and therefore very difficult to fall in love with. Think about the last time you got excited about a bike pump…exactly my point. Yet there is at least one manufacturer whose engineers are desperately trying to renew the public’s attitude toward light commercial vehicles and inject some much-needed enthusiasm into the public imagination. The name of that manufacturer is Vauxhall.

The Vauxhall Van Range starts small with the Corsavan, basically a slightly stretched version of the popular car with no rear seats and a bit of storage space. The Astravan is more of the same motif, but it’s the Movano and Vivaro where things start to get a little more interesting. The Movano is the daddy of the range, proving to be quite a big customer. Vauxhall have designed it to be the most practical light commercial vehicle on the market and with the sheer capacity beyond the neat panel door, they may have nailed it. Your average technician will easily be able to fit every possible tool they might need on the back of the Movano. But how does it work?

Surprisingly well is the answer. The diesels are positively nimble for the mass it’s pulling and Vauxhall [http://www.westend-vauxhall.co.uk/used-vans.shtml] It offers 3 wheelbase options to ensure the handling is just right for the type of load the driver will be hauling. The look is rather subdued, but that is precisely what we expect from vehicles of this type. However, the Movano’s little brother, the Vivaro, has slightly different ideas. In stark contrast to virtually any truck he’s seen, the Vivaro seems to be committing the cardinal sin of trying to look stylish. The long, raked headlights and rounded nose look like some kind of van from the future. It manages to retain some of its practical appeal by being as roomy as you’d expect and fuel-efficient too.

How well truck men across the country will respond to Vivaro’s bold fashion statements remains to be seen in the long term, but having won industry awards in 2004 and 2005, it looks like Vauxhall’s stylish pickup may rather than defend. in the light commercial vehicle market.