We cover many of the latest innovations in camper van and mobile home conversions but there’s another growing van genre our automotive team is getting excited about: the sporty panel van.
This niche world is centered on hot-rod versions of standard light commercial load shifters. Recent trailblazers include Ford’s racy MS-RT Transit, which will accelerate a cargo of cardboard boxes from a standstill to 60 mph (96.5 km/h) in just six seconds, and Vauxhall’s Vivaro GS, or its Stellantis sister, the Peugeot Expert Sport, which can deliver your wardrobe at up to 106 mph (170 km/h).
We haven’t heard much about these hot vans globally because it’s hardly a thing in the Americas. Pulse-boosting panel vans are really only cool right now in Japan, the UK, and Australia, with a few scattered outbreaks across Europe. Americans, or more specifically Californians, probably invented the genre but nowadays vastly prefer hot pickup trucks. Maybe vans like the new VW ‘GTI’ Transporter will change that.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
In the UK especially, there’s growing demand for small delivery vans that can enhance your self-image, even if you deliver sanitary fittings for a living. That’s why VW has just launched a van that looks like it’s been through a teenager’s customizing studio.
The VW Transporter has hardly been the world’s sexiest vehicle range to date, but here comes the best-looking medium panel van ever to emerge from Germany. The official title is the Sportline. VW has used this name before for range-topping trim on the T5 and T6 models, but this new version looks far racier than before.
The latest Transporter Sportline comes with a long list of go-faster extras: unique front and rear bumpers, side skirts, a gloss black grille, roof rails, and 19-inch diamond-cut wheels. The van rides lower too, with a 1.1-inch (29-mm) suspension drop.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
As it whizzes past, you’ll spot the rear spoiler. We’re unsure what aerodynamic benefit that particular extra offers to a flying boxy cube shape, but it’s the thought that counts. And there’s more. VW is going full hot-car with this van. Note the matrix LED headlights, excellent sports seats in faux leather, funky Sportline badging and an optional red grille.
All this kit doesn’t actually make your pizza delivery any quicker, sadly. The Sportline range comes with a selection of diesel, hybrid and all-electric powertrains that already exist, so don’t expect any uprated performance. The extras do make that man-with-a-van operation pricier, though. In the UK, the basic Transporter costs from £39,478 in the dull Commerce trim (that’s about US$54k). The Sportline panel van costs a hefty £64,552 (~US$88,370) by comparison. The price of being cool is certainly rising.
As part of the Sportline launch, VW notes that it has been 75 years since the debut of the favorite of hippie, festival-going surfers everywhere, the VW bus. The bus is now just another version of the Transporter, known as the Kombi. To celebrate the 75th birthday of the bus, or Kombi, there’s a limited run of 75 moss green Transporter minibuses fitted with all the Sportline extras. The steering wheel and seats get special green stitching, and there are badges with a Sportline 74 logo. Sadly, penniless hippies living off foraged vegetables should look away now. The cost of the Kombi 75 is a weighty £66,928 (over US$91k).
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
The Sportline launch primarily targets UK hot van customers. In this market, manufacturers increasingly offer panel vans with rally-inspired body mods. The British van market is booming, with over five million vans on the road. A growing proportion of owners want that sporty custom look.
There is some mention of availability in Europe, but there are no launch plans for the US or Canada. And certainly not Japan, which is arguably the market with the most distinct vanning culture.
There, the scene often takes the form of DIY modding. A popular victim is the American Dodge Ram van. These are commonly lowered, fitted with wide wheels and low-profile tires, and taken to track events called ‘Dajiban.’ It sounds exotic and anime-inspired, but it’s really just the Japanese for Dodge Van.
Source: Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
