Scud') shapes up as winner
Page 13
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• CM has driven the Fiz:t Scudo—one of the "mini-Seve7 family of vans—and first impressions suggest that :t could be a winner. It's basically identical to the Peugeot Expert (see page 12) and the Citroen Dispatch, so competition will be fierce between the three importers.
The Scudo is a purpose-built van (sharing its floorpan with the Ulysse people-carrier) with a payload of 740kg and a loadspace volume of 4.0m3. But what distinguishes it from existing models such as the VW Transporter and Nissan Vanette Cargo is the driving position: it's halfway between a car and a van, with particularly easy access to the cab.
The windscreen is set relatively low, so the Scudo looks less intrusive than a conven tional panel van despite being. exactly the same height as the Transporter.
The cab itself is comfortable rather than luxurious: the two single seats are spaced quite widely apart, and the handbrake is mounted on the right, so it's possible to walk through to the load area. Getting to the load is easy in any case, with sliding doors on each side and double doors at the back.
The Peugeot-sourced 1.9-litre diesel is available in turbocharged form, but we drove the naturally aspirated 69hp (51kW) version.
Power steering is standard, and the Scudo handles very well round town—likely to be its usual habitat. It's stable on the motorway, too, and most drivers will find the transition from car to van easy.