The Practical Vehicle Thread

[ebikeerwidnes]

First car that I drove properly was one like this

But the steering wheel on the right

and it was as sort of light beige colour


basically it would go anywhere - I did drive it on some pretty rough stuff that normal cars would nevar have made it up

it cruised on motorways perfectly OK
as long as you were happy at 65 mph

had a sunroof that could double as the opening of a tank turret using my Dad's walking stick as a gun - lad who used to do that ended up in teh Navy - so maybe it was a frigate??


You could fit anything in it - the rear seats came out very easily and left a gaping void which would fit almost anything you wanted to fit in it
OK - there was no hatch back so the rear boot lid was not full height

but I was know to fit things in through the roof if I had help


As far a rough roads were concerned - it didn;t even notice and nor did the people in it
although it was a bit worrying going round corners at time - but it never let go when I was driving it!




so there you are

the perfect practical vehicle - and an engine with a whole 602cc!!

 

[Jenkins]

Just over 6' of load length with the rear seats dropped (IKEA Billy bookcase at 202cm just slid in), fairly wide boot opening, takes a large road bike with ease, can be driven sportily, but will still cruise at 2000rpm at 70 mph, returns 50-55mpg (diesel) and looks drop dead gorgeous in Soul Red.

 

[fossyant]

Meet Van Diesel (as the wife calls it).

 

[fossyant]

Makes a change filling it full of gear and still being able to see out of all the windows.

 

[Drago]

Something very manly about van ownership.

 

[Jameshow]

Something very manly about van ownership.

Skoda Octavia estate..

Caddy max life loads of space.

I measured one up today 220cm x 120cm bed space.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

This was really a practical car ...

View attachment 799403

Photo is not mine, but mine was identical. Started off being my firm's car, then six months later, was made redundant and had the chance to buy it for £7k.

Had it from 1990 to 2002, did over 200 miles, had eight seats, and with the seats down could take my bike without taking any wheels. Got us to France, Italy, Spain and loads of holidays with the kids.

Really missed it when I traded it in for a Zafira, but too many things started to go wrong on it.

I like the 504/505 estates, a nice diesel/manual would be good, a DANGEL wpuld be even better!

As would a M-B 'W123' estate,that's the model invariably seen with colour-coded hubcaps & chrome roofrails
Like this

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Skoda Octavia estate..

A very useful vehicle indeed!!
It's one of the reasons I owned mine for well over 9 years

In fact, I might still have it if SWMBO hadn't wanted another 'BWSOW', & a bigger one than I wanted to pull (considered safe!) with the Octavia, hence the Kodiaq
I did briefly consider a Range-Rover L322 (the 'series 3') as a TDV8 at the same time

Plus, the XC70

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Meet Van Diesel (as the wife calls it).

View attachment 799410

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View attachment 799413

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Something very manly about van ownership.

Our 'next but one' neighbours (we knew Anne, before we moved in here) have a '05' plate T5 that they bought new
It's an 8 seater LWB, & still has a damned big loadspace, even with the 3rd row in place
(they don't use it much, as it's apparantly still only showing about 110,000 miles)

 

[fossyant]

Our 'next but one' neighbours (we knew Anne, before we moved in here) have a '05' plate T5 that they bought new
It's an 8 seater LWB, & still has a damned big loadspace, even with the 3rd row in place
(they don't use it much, as it's apparantly still only showing about 110,000 miles)

I opted to go for the VIP model (Toyota, Citron and Pug all call it the VIP, vauxhall its the Elite but 7 seat option) because it has two middle seats that can face either way. They are also easy to remove on my own. The three in the rear are split 2:1 but the two seater is a two person job to remove.

If I'd got the 8 seater the seats it wouldnt have been as felixble in use. If I'm doing a tip run, I just slide the middle seats back so there is a big space in the middle of the van.

When camping I'll take out the middle seats so we have storage under the bed when that is folded out. When we went away for 10 days we took out all the seats to increase space under the bed as we were doing hotels, tent and kipping in the van. Meant all our gear was hidden from sight when parked up.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Honda Jazz

 

[Bristolian]

My Mercedes E220 was bought for practical purposes. The model is one of very few that can accommodate my wife's mobility scooter in the boot with the rear seats up and still have enough room for weekend luggage for four people. It is also really comfortable and pretty frugal on fuel over long distances and at motorway speeds.

Previously, I had owned a number of Land Rover Discovery models (200/300Tdi, Td5 and V8 engines) which were reasonably practical and comfortable but far from economical. The last one (pictured here) was reluctantly disposed of as SWMBO couldn't get in and out of it anymore. The scar in the rear wing was from a stubborn tree branch whilst off-roading I'd have another one tomorrow ...... heads off to Autotrader

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Previously, I had owned a number of Land Rover Discovery models (200/300Tdi, Td5 and V8 engines) which were reasonably practical and comfortable but far from economical. The last one (pictured here) was reluctantly disposed of as SWMBO couldn't get in and out of it anymore. The scar in the rear wing was from a stubborn tree branch whilst off-roading I'd have another one tomorrow ...... heads off to Autotrader
View attachment 799613

My only Discovery was a 300Tdi/manual/5-seater

I wasn’t a fan of it when l owned it
However, l’d really like a 300Tdi Commercial’!

 

[dicko]

First car that I drove properly was one like this

View attachment 799404


But the steering wheel on the right

and it was as sort of light beige colour


basically it would go anywhere - I did drive it on some pretty rough stuff that normal cars would nevar have made it up

it cruised on motorways perfectly OK
as long as you were happy at 65 mph

had a sunroof that could double as the opening of a tank turret using my Dad's walking stick as a gun - lad who used to do that ended up in teh Navy - so maybe it was a frigate??


You could fit anything in it - the rear seats came out very easily and left a gaping void which would fit almost anything you wanted to fit in it
OK - there was no hatch back so the rear boot lid was not full height

but I was know to fit things in through the roof if I had help


As far a rough roads were concerned - it didn;t even notice and nor did the people in it
although it was a bit worrying going round corners at time - but it never let go when I was driving it!




so there you are

the perfect practical vehicle - and an engine with a whole 602cc!!

Mine had a tow ball and it towed my day boat from the boat actions back to our home then to Poole harbour most summer weekends

 

[DCLane]

Honda Jazz

SWMBO had one of those. It was surprisingly practical.

Nothing went wrong with it in 14 years of ownership until one minor issue and an opportunity to sell.