Let’s get one thing straight. The grubby yellow van that Del Boy and Rodders use for Trotters Independent Trading Co isn’t a Reliant Robin, as often believed. Nor is it a Regal Robin. It’s a Reliant Regal Supervan III. Now we’ve cleared that one up, it’s astonishing that a vehicle so resoundingly rubbish has been voted the nation’s favourite van.
But in a survey by comparison site Go.Compare, nearly a quarter of respondents named the brothers’ Regal as their favourite commercial carrier. With its fibreglass bodywork, puny 29hp 700cc engine and of course one fewer wheel than is ideal, the Supervan could never really live up to its name.
That said, Del and Rodney did give the little Reliant near-mythical status. And it was cemented by the 1988 Only Fools and Horses Christmas special car chase, which saw Rodders and his date, “nervous” Nerys from The Nag’s Head, trying to outrun a gang of yobs.
Anyone who has driven a Reliant three-wheeler will know what a terrifying prospect that is. However, when I tested one in the 1990s, I still remember its gear change as one of the most positive I’ve ever experienced: with its lever sitting right on top of the gearbox, there’s barely any linkage to add imprecision to gear shifts.
There is obviously a lot of nostalgia when it comes to vans, as Go.Compare suggests. In its survey, the Only Fools and Horses Supervan is followed by a host of vehicles from films and television shows that in some cases date back 40 years.
Here are the next favourites among the nation’s van lovers.
Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1
Who ya gonna call? Perhaps someone who knows the difference between cars and vans would be a start. There’s a strong argument that Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters – the country’s second-most popular “van” – isn’t a van at all. It’s actually a Cadillac Series 75, which is probably best known as the ocean liner-length Fleetwood limo.
General Motors-owned Cadillac also sold the Series 75 chassis as a commercial vehicle, enabling coachbuilders such as Miller-Meteor to add their own bodywork for undertakers and the ambulance that Ecto-1 is.
That Ecto-1 isn’t a van would probably please Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek and Spanish dictator General Franco. It’s unlikely either would have been as eager to order Fleetwoods if they had known their transport was based on a humble commercial vehicle. Mind you, neither leader would be overly impressed that their status symbol found fame as a comedy ambulance.
The Mystery Machine
Made famous first in the 1960s-70s Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! cartoon series, the Mystery Machine is so mysterious that no one knows what make of van it is. Nonetheless, in the Go.Compare survey, this van was the most popular with 25- to 34-year-olds.
Usually driven by lantern-jawed Fred – well, you wouldn’t want a buffoon such as Shaggy behind the wheel – the Mystery Machine demonstrates remarkable versatility.
Conveniently packed in the back are ladders, benches, tools, a table and chairs, even latterly computer equipment. There’s room for that idiot dog, too. If only the average builder’s van were as commodious, they wouldn’t have to keep bunking off for hours “to buy supplies”.
The A-Team GMC Vandura
Imagine if the ubiquitous Ford Transit had found a starring role in a popular crime-fighting series – other than being driven by villains in The Sweeney. The GMC Vandura did just that, transcending its roots as a General Motors utility van with a natty paint job and a starring role in The A-Team.
With its cartoon violence, The A-Team was a massive hit in the 1980s. And its 1983 Vandura with black and red wheels and rooftop spoiler, was arguably as big a star as the show’s principal characters, Hannibal, Face, “Howling Mad” Murdock and BA Baracus. Rather like the Mystery Machine, the van also has a mysterious ability to carry a seemingly endless amount of kit.
Postman Pat’s van
In case the kids watching forgot who the big red van with the Royal Mail logo on the side belonged to, Postman Pat’s delivery vehicle was registered Pat 1. No expense was spared on production, either: its exhaust note was apparently that of a 1922 “Bullnose” Morris Cowley sourced from the BBC sound-effects library.
The van’s design is the figment of someone’s fevered imagination. Postman Pat fans, who clearly have too much time on their hands, reckon it could be a shortened 1980s Freight Rover Sherpa mated with a 1970 Willam Fourgonnette from oddball Italian firm Lawil. Whatever, the resulting look is something only a mother – or cartoon postie – could love.
Wallace and Gromit’s Austin A35
A disappointing sixth in the list, bearing in mind that two ahead of it are completely made-up vehicles, is the Austin A35 van used by our intrepid heroes in the 2005 film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The little Austin, sold between 1956 and 1968, was almost identical in dimensions if not innovation to the Austin Seven-badged version of the original Mini.
In Wallace and Gromit’s world, the little A35 may look a bit tatty on the outside, but it has been given the full treatment by oddball inventor Wallace, having been retrofitted with an airbag. And although the diminutive Austin had a starter motor, Wallace clearly didn’t trust it as he added a mechanical arm that pops out of the grille to operate the starting handle.
Ford Econoline from Dumb and Dumber
If you’ve got a job as a dog groomer, surely it’s a given that you make your car look like a dog. Actually, it isn’t unless your name is Harry Dunne and you’re the Dumb (or is it the Dumber?) in the 1994 film Dumb and Dumber.
Some might argue that Dunne did the Econoline a favour. A bland offering from Ford, the van was introduced in 1960 but the model that was turned into a hairy hound came along in 1984. Engines ranged from a 4.2-litre to a hairy 7.5 so it wasn’t all bad. Unless it was covered in beige shag carpeting with a plastic nose and a lolling tongue.
Which is your favourite van?
Does your favourite van come from a film or television series we haven’t mentioned? Or is it your plumber’s Ford Transit as he arrives to fix your faulty boiler? The van used by the AA and RAC to rescue you from the roadside, perhaps?
Let us know in the comments below.