Was a big fan of the old Astra vans, they were rocket ships. There was always one two inches off your rear bumper on the motorway no matter how fast you drove.

These days that position has been well and truly taken by the lwb high roof Mercedes Sprinter!

I am also a big van of the humble van and pickup (not the current breed of far too big pose mobiles i hasten to add!). I have driven and owned a few, plus have fond childhood recollections of a couple of others.

Vauxhall Midi 2.0 petrol (1992). This was the parts van at the Saab dealership i worked at. It had the dual passenger seat option and so was column change. This wasn't too much of a challenge as (believe it or not) a couple of 96 V4's were still serviced by us and i had driven one of them a few times. The gearchange on the Midi was a bit stiff but otherwise it was a nice enough thing to drive, quite nippy but the back end was a bit wayward in the wet!.

Suzuki ST90 (1985) I bought this predecessor to the Supercarry/Rascal on a whim. What can i say, i like small vehicles and this was tiny, not to mention bright yellow!. Loved it, nippy in town, extremely manoeuvrable and an enormous amount of load space given its dimensions (I did actually sleep in it a couple of times). It was also the culprit of the scariest experience i've had behind a steering wheel, driving across the Kessock bridge on a windy day, yikes!. Despite this, i'd love to have another.

Peugeot 305 1.9d (circa 1987). This was the parts van at the Peugeot dealership i worked. Didn't get the chance to drive it that often, but i remember it being surprisingly fast, comfortable and refined.

Peugeot Boxer 2.8HDI LWB high roof (circa 1998). I worked for a while at a car/van hire company. Most of the 'standard' transit sized vans were Fiat Ducato 1.9d (non turbo), they were horrible and slow things to drive. We also had the above, and compared to the Ducato's, the Boxer was like a rocketship!. 130bhp isn't that impressive in a van these days, but back then i was absolutely amazed at how quick it felt. As an added bonus, it was more refined and had a much nicer gearchange then the Ducato's.

Ford Escort 1.8d (circa 1995). While working at the aforementioned car/van hire company, this came back off a long term rent. I was between cars at the time and the boss 'kindly' let me use this for a couple of weeks. What a nail!, not sure if they were all as gutless as that one, but it literally couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding!. To make matters worse, it stunk of fish!.

Iveco Daily SWB high roof (2003). I bought this when i first started as a window cleaner. I had been (incorrectly*) advised that i'd need a 1000 litre tank and a 3.5t van to put it in. Most 3.5t vans are huge, so the Iveco, being a SWB seemed like a good choice. It had a very high seating position (i was looking down on Range Rover drivers), the seat itself was incredibly comfortable and had a huge range of adjustment. Despite not having air-con, the heating/ventilation was fantastic being able to absolutely blast hot or cold air into the cabin/my face/my feet as required. The high point though, was the amazing turning circle, it could do a U-turn in not much more than its own length!. I would dearly love another, but i don't need a van that big and can't really justify it. (* i found out later that with a pump controller i could easily manage with a 500 litre tank, currently managing fine with a 400 litre one)

Ford Transit Connect 1.8TDCI 230 (2006). This replaced the Iveco and performed faultlessly for 7.5 years (till i went off the road on an icy country road). It was starting to suffer rust problems in the sills (a problem area of these i believe), but the only other demerit was the poor turning circle, especially noticeable after the Iveco!. Not particularly efficient compared to other vans in its class, but it was ok for my needs and the 40mpg i got on average was 10 more than the Iveco!.

VW Caddy 2.0 SDI. Bought in a rush to replace the Connect, but over two years later it has behaved impeccably!. Being the non turbo (70bhp) version, it is not in any way shape or form, fast, but is perfectly sufficient for my needs. Especially since i now, most of the time, abide by the official LCV speed limits. For the vast majority of the time, i am on single carriageway roads which means 50mph. Being an ex British Gas van, it is actually limited to 70mph, and it will maintain that with reasonable ease, noisily though, thanks to the short gearing. I found out that one of the only things which cause these trouble is the DMF. Shortly after buying mine, i was aware of symptoms (uneven idle, occasionally 'violent' sounding start up once warmed up) which i later discovered to be pointing in that direction, however, it has gotten no worse in the last 18 months, so fingers crossed!.

The couple of childhood recollections were both of pickups which my Dad had got a loan of from his work and i would dearly like to get an example of either. They were the Peugeot 504 and Subaru 284. Back in the days before 'health and safety' was a thing, Dad would get a loan of one of these two, and we'd often go to visit relatives with myself and my Brother sitting on cusions in the back (facing rearwards). For carrying capacity the 504 was definately trumps, but for me and my Brother sitting in the back, the Subaru offered a little more weather protection with the little 'flying buttresses'!.