I'm no auto journalist. I did however, have a column in a Volkswagen magazine once, it no longer exists which I do hope isn't entirely my fault. Previous endeavours aside, I do feel a duty to let our predominantly Northern Hemisphere, Volkswagen Transporter owning followers into some thoughts on the new Volkswagen Transporter. This review, which isn't a review (more of a short story) began five years ago.

A mysterious email

It began with a cryptic mail which landed in my inbox, it contained words to the effect of, 'our team wants to talk to you, we'll give you some money for your time, we can't tell you who we are, and it should only take a few hours'. I wasn't sure what it was, or who these people were, but it sounded like a new surfboard for a few hour's work, so I said sure.

A few weeks later, a German woman, an American gent, and a smartly dressed British man arrived at our door. Sounds like the start of a joke, it wasn't. They sat down in front of us (my wife (girlfriend at time) and I), and paraded around vehicle concepts and designs on a computer that varied from very good, to not so very good. What did they want from us? They wanted our opinions on these concepts, they wanted help, they wanted to know what we wanted from a van.  A few hours later, they were polite enough to buy some S+S gear (I have a suspicion this was probably a command from a behavioral psychologist higher up in their organisation's food chain to make them appear 'core'), they slid a brown envelope across the table, and said their goodbyes. Parting words from our end were goodbye too, but also words to the effect of 'who the hell are you lot?' 

I can tell you that they did tell me..... But I still can't say who. 

The thing I learnt from that first conversation (and the many after), is that it was quite likely that two notable brands who make vans, would be sharing a production line for their new vehicles in five years time.

Fast forward to today, and you might be able to guess what was going on back then. What's being delivered to the S+S Studio, quite evidently, has divided opinions... It's the new Volkswagen Transporter. Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that the new VW transporter shares the same production line, engine and bones as the Ford Transit. The end of the 70+ year, German-built institution. 

We asked the community

Our T7 actually arrived a while ago. I was keen to know what our community thought of it, so it was swiftly wheeled into the studio where photos were taken, then onto Instagram it went with a caption that read something to the effect of, 'the allure of an empty panel van, tell us what you'd do with it, we'll select the best comment and give you a £100 voucher.' The caveat being that if you used the words 'Ford, wetbelt, or put it in the bin', you'd be disqualified. The clever chap that said 'put it in the skip', rather than the bin, garnered by far the most traction on his comment which 10X'ed the likes on all the other commentators. While that chap happened to be a friend (die hard VW/Porsche guy) it did perhaps affirm the disdain for the new variant within this 'core' community.

Rather than take it to the skip straight away, I felt compelled to give it some good time behind the wheel. I've been driving it about in its very standard, unmodified guise for the last week. First impressions, aside from the function, which we'll get to, is that no one looks at it. I mean no one. I actually quite like that, but compared to the few weeks where I wafted around in one of the first IDBUZZ vans in the UK, where folks would genuinely stop you in the road, it's quite the contrast. No one cares about this thing. At all. It's invisible.

The other notable takeaway, and perhaps because our one is white (white gives the best backdrop for the very colourful S+S products which this van will be the mule for) it feels like a very pure, freeing thing to be in. It feels honest, which is a weird trait for a vehicle to possess in any form, and a trait I keep coming back to every few minutes while I'm behind the wheel. I think that it might have something to do with what most tribal VW folk can't quite fathom (yet). I think that it's actually quite good. Dare I say really good? It's very comfy, it's very quiet, and our one (in 150BHP guise), it's pissing fast. I think my pure/ honest feeling comes down to the fact it just might actually be a really, really good way to move yourself and your things about on a road.

Is it a Ford then? Yep. It definitely is. For those that don't know, in this factory, there are two production lines, one is full of folks with VW shirts on, the other? Ford attire. They run side-by-side. One factory blasts out most of the parts, two different teams assemble them. VW building the VW's, Ford building the Fords. 

Oddly welcome details

From the second you touch the door handle on the T7, die-hard VW guys will know something's up. The handle itself is huge and cumbersome, do Ford guys have huge hands? Or am I a pencil pushing VW owner? I don't know, but when you've got your arm around the thing and pull, the door pings open with a notable twang, you clamber into the seat and sit down, it's weirdly soft, and again, very un-VW. You close the door, a high pitched tin noise resonates back at you in a way that sounds immediately foreign if you've spent any amount of time being surrounded by German metal. The armrest? Also very squidgy, the key? Very big for something that doesn't need to be twisted (shame, keys that you turn are excellent), the gear linkage... baggy and not like loading a German rifle. The indicator stick? Girthy, the noise while indicating appears to be designed by the same company that makes toys to keep my two year old occupied with a comically loud click-clocking noise. It yells at you if you dare to flirt with the legal speed limit. This stuff does go on, but it's worth noting that there is a lot of Ford stuff in there that's actually good that I've never experienced. Stuff that's foreign, but not necessarily bad. A comfy seat for example? quite nice. I've been battling with the aircon that within seconds tries to turn you into Ottsi or whatever that leathery-looking iceman is called. It's really good. I'll say it again, it is also really fast, has great manors on the road, feels very modern, and is loaded with tech that's actually good, not unnecessary. Its warranty situation is like no-other and it's very reasonably priced... 

I don't hate the styling, most I've spoken with do, but I think it'll be the same tribal bunch that admit 'it's growing on me' in a few months. 

Having driven over 100 VW vans of all eras, if I was asked if any were better than this van, I think I'd struggle to list them. This T7, call it a Transit if you must, is better than all the VW vans I have driven, and while it is technically a VW, I would urge you to have a go in one if you can, and I think you, like me, might be quite surprised. 

I actually got offered a rare, early T5 with a 4motion, diff-lock drive-train and a slew of other special bits from the factory a few weeks back and figured why not. It'd be the right way to personally own and honor the era of the Transporter story that we owe so much too at S+S and keep a good one for myself as we head into the next chapter of the story. When I jumped back in it after a week in the T7, that van, which only a week earlier, had felt particularly tight and sorted, all of a sudden felt positively archaic. Almost fossilised in comparison. 

The new Volkswagen T7 reminds me why I first fell in love with using a van as a means of transport. A good van is a charming thing. It's honest, and one of the few material things that has the ability to do the opposite of weigh you down, they can set you free. I've yet to drive a vehicle that gives off that feeling more than this new one and I think if it can do that, no matter the provenance, nor the brand, it's probably an object worth celebrating.