06 Aug 08
'I've got quite a lot of stuff,' said Simon cheerfully when I pulled up in the Volkswagen Caravelle. 'Quite a lot' didn't begin to come close: Simon's stuff was piled all along his hallway and halfway down his stairs. And people say that women over-pack...
We crammed numerous kitbags and rucksacks of camping gear, bedding and clothing, food and drink, two portable record players, battery packs, mixing unit and a substantial collection of 45s, a guitar and a glitter ball onto the Caravelle's rear bench seat; the guy had even brought a hairdryer.
Good job the rest of us had travelled light, but this did demonstrate my fundamental problem with the Caravelle's load-carrying abilities - or more precisely, the fact that I think we ticked the wrong options boxes and went for the wrong seating/load-space configuration when we chose our particular car.
The Volkswagen Transporter comes in a variety of different layouts, but the top-spec, passenger-oriented Caravelle has a three-person rear bench and two individual central chairs in addition to the two front seats. The rear bench slides, to increase the loadspace, but is very heavy and awkward to remove completely and, while the central seats also slide and swivel, between them sits a sliding console-cum-table. I don't think any of us have ever made use of this and we have rarely used all seven seats. Yet even with the rear bench in its foremost position, the boot's not particularly large and far from van-like.
