Did you know the term “White Van Man” is attributed to Radio 2 DJ Sarah Kennedy way back in 1997? A fact she has no doubt been dining out on ever since.
In the eleven years that has elapsed since white van man was singled out for posing the greatest threat to society, world and home events have meant that maybe there are worse things in life than someone being discourteous towards us whilst driving.
I seem to remember though that white vans do seem to attract a certain amount of attention not all of it welcomed. I hired a white van a while back to move flat and within minutes a small group of dirty faced youths started hanging around and I had to move them on by threatening to play my Richard Clayderman albums loudly.
As a consequence “white van man” has reinvented himself somewhat and undergone a bit of an image change to reflect these changing times. For instance mainly due to a loophole with VAT ratings many builders who in the past may have driven dilapidated white vans a few years ago can now be found driving around in swanky new 4x4 pick-ups. Especially the double cab versions which are now being used on the school run amongst other things.
Also due to the rising costs of motoring a lot of vans have now become the main vehicle in the household and with the image of the white van in crisis other colours were being tried in an attempt to shake off the stereotypical image of the occupant. Some time ago silver was deemed to be the new white for the more image-conscious driver.
The term “New Van Man” was coined to reflect the trend of tradesmen who would rather be seen drinking a tall latte rather than a mug of tea with maybe a copy of The Guardian on the dashboard instead of The Sun.
People’s expectations are a lot higher these days and the equipment level of today’s vans has improved to reflect this. I remember a friend of mine used to be a delivery driver and I used to occasionally accompany him when I’d lost the will to live. The problem being his van was so basic there was not even a passenger seat! This failed to put me off and I helped myself and took one of my mums dining room chairs. This kind of worked in so far as I could put a seatbelt round me but of course without being fixed to the floor it did have a tendency to catapult me into the dashboard if we stopped quickly or alternatively sent me flying backwards into a pile of discarded sandwich wrappers when we pulled away.
These days vans have airbags and air conditioning (so the sun-tanned right arm has become a thing of the past) CD’s and MP3 players and such like even electric windows, in the past you would be lucky to have a window winder as it would have fallen off long ago and be rattling around annoyingly somewhere under the driver’s seat.
Take the Vauxhall Vivaro I have just been reading about for instance, the specification list reads better than a lot of cars currently available, there’s even a sport version. It comes with a choice of the latest common rail diesel engines and some 16 different body variations and it’s even made in Luton England. Safety features include ABS with EBA (Emergency Brake Assist) and seat belt pretensioners. The Vivaro is available in long and short wheelbase versions including minibuses as well as a high roof option, always handy to avoid bashing your head when loading.
All the vans I have looked at are shown in red but rest assured white is still an option for the traditionalist!
No comments:
Post a Comment