For the annual trip to France Vanessa will feel very much at home in the Berlingo and most importantly will have loads of room.CAR CHOICE Please write to Car Choice, Features, Independent House, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS, or e-mail James Ruppert at carchoice independent.co.uk, giving your age, address and contact number, and details of the type of vehicle in which you are interested.. It is an adapted van but that is a good thing, especially when it comes to practicality. There is plenty of room, a great feeling of airiness and easy access, especially through the rear sliding doors. The boot is also usefully large, plus the seats are comfortable too.
For £5,000 Vanessa will get a 2002 1.6 with decent Elegance specification.A CAR FOR THE HEARTVanessa could go for character in the shape of the Citroen Berlingo Multispace – a 2CV for the new millennium and very loveable indeed. The 1.4 and 1.6 are quite perky and should return a useful 38mpg Most importantly there is plenty of room inside. Longer in the middle, this model provided front and rear passengers with more than enough head and legroom. The steering and handling is nothing short of superb, being usefully direct and great on those drives into France. The ride is smooth and well behaved and that succeeds in making the Astra feel like it is a larger luxury car.
There is a large range of engines which deliver power smoothly but can also sound noisy when pressed. On the whole though the 16-valve petrol engines are excellent. The old Vauxhall Astra was never the prettiest or most distinctive car in its class It is however unpretentious and unashamedly practical. For keen drivers the good news is that extensive work by Lotus has turned the previously dull Astra into an entertaining drive.
A 40,000 mile 2003 Vauxhall Combi 1.7 Di diesel will cost around £3995, plus VAT and it is a very spacious and useful vehicle. Although vans are much more sophisticated than they used to be Vanessa may find driving it a bit noisy and tiring. There is of course no reason why a largish hatch could not do the job and the choice of possible vehicles indicates that Vanessa wants something which has a bit of character.A CAR FOR THE HEAD Let’s ingnore character for the moment and just focus on practicality and value. But there is another difference between this bike and the great tourers like the Harley and BMW mentioned above – price.The Breva costs £1 less than £7,000, which is £3,000 cheaper than the BMW and £7,000 cheaper than the Harley That is how it should be. You are getting what you pay for.Let’s examine the bike again. Sit up straight and ride a beautifully engineered machine: yes.
