Driven: VW Caravelle

It's a measure of any car that appears on the Yarrow driveway when my wife pays attention to it. This is a rare occurrence because she doesn't give a toss about motoring, other than the fact it pays our mortgage. And yet not only did the Volkswagen Caravelle warrant a 'what is this?' when we were on our way to the Lake District, by the time we'd returned she was all for buying one. The big VW's claim to fame is that it swallowed everything we needed for our family holiday without me once saying "I'm not sure all that stuff is going to fit in the car". This is very regular occurrence indeed. With the two middle row captain's chairs removed, and the rear bench slid forward, the boot is truly vast. I love the fact I don't have to squeeze everything in with the sort of planning that went into beating Hitler, but that's not what I love about the Caravelle most. No, that honour goes to the bike rack on the back, which can accommodate four Yarrow-sized velos and keep them rock solid for hours on end without a second thought. That alone is enough reason to buy a Caravelle. Add in the fact it's a comfortable motorway cruiser and you've got yourself the perfect family car. Manoeuvrability in the supermarket car park isn't its strong suit, but even then there's plus point. The sliding rear doors mean it's impossible for the kids to bash another vehicle. Genius.