SPE C IAL
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DELIVERY
Volkswagen's Transporter 800 Special attempts to bridge a gap in the company's van range— and it's well suited to CDV operators who want to move up to a user-friendly panel van.
Special. Now there's a word that's been hopelessly devalued. Any old modification can turn a product into a "Special Edition", whether it's an extra 10 minutes tacked on to a Hollywood epic or a pearl-handled egg-whisk _ That's why CM regarded the Volkswagen Transporter 800 Special panel vanwith a fair bit of suspicion.
The Transporter has impressed us in a variety of guises, from the 4x4 Syncro to tippers and high-roof vans, but bread-and-butter versions have never looked like breaking the Ford Transit's iron grip on the UK market. The Special's task is to lure the ordinary van buyer away from the obvious alternatives.
PRODUCT PROFILE "To complete the picture the tailgate boasts an 800 Special badge to remind everyone what a very special van this is". So says the brochure. In truth this Transporter is really anything but Special: it has the most basic bodyshell, an unremarkable fourcylinder diesel and thoroughly func tional German trim. But beneath the inoffensive exterior lies one of the most radical vans on the market: the VW's front-wheel drive and independent suspension all round have raised our expectations of roadgoing performance in this class of van. Ford has revised the Transit considerably to try to keep up, and even the forthcoming new Sevel van appears to have comparatively crude suspension.
The 800 Special uses the Transporter's short-wheelbase, standard-height bodyshell with a side door, giving a VDA load volume measurement of 5.4m3—better than the smallest Transit, but some way short of the equivalent Sevel or Renault Trafic competition.
The engine is a 1.9-litre, four-cylinder, naturally aspirated diesel; quite a small-capacity unit for a panel van, but a reasonably torquey engine that has served well for some time.
The extras that make the van "special" are largely conventional options: power steering; a tailgate (rather than twin rear doors) with heated window and wash/wipe; half-height bulkhead;