Vauxhall Vans are both practical and functional. The Vauxhall Vivaro is a direct relation of the Renault Trafic and is an award winning panel van that sets the standard in the medium van class. The Vivaro is available in different specifications to suit any van driver. It will
comfortably handle heavy loads and is equally at home cruising on motorways.
Crusader also stocks the Vauxhall Astra van. The Astra Van is essentially an Astra estate car, minus rear seats and windows, re-engineering to cope with commercial work. Load capacity is pretty good for its class, but the Astra van’s primary virtues are its good looks and excellent
handling. It has a very car-like cabin and excellent road manners. There may be plenty of vans that are equal to or better than the Astra Van in terms of load carrying, but probably none that can beat it from the driver's perspective.
Vauxhall was founded by Alexander Wilson in 1857 building pumps and marine engines. Its first car was built in 1903. As time went on, Vauxhall built more and more vehicles based on a more sporting pedigree in the pre-war years and specialised in staff cars during World War 1.
The company moved the majority of its production in 1905 to Luton in order to expand, changing its trading name in 1907 from Vauxhall Iron Works to Vauxhall Motors. Much of VauxhallÂ’s success during the early years was due to a man called Laurence Pomeroy, who joined the company at the age of 21 as an assistant draughtsman. Pomeroy was asked to design an engine for cars to be entered into the 1908 RAC and Scottish Reliability Trial in June of that year. The cars were so successful that Pomeroy took over as chief designer.
Laurence Pomeroy left the company in 1919, moving to the United States. After the war, there was a drop in demand for the higher class vehicle that Vauxhall was renowned for producing and sales faltered. The company struggled to make a profit and started looking for a major partner. In 1925 Vauxhall was bought by GM for $2.5million.
Vauxhall commercial vehicles are delighted to announce Movano has won the coveted 'Best Van Award' at the Fleet Award Honours which took place on the 18th May at the Royal Automobile Club, London.
Van Fleet World Editor, John Kendall, said: "The Vauxhall Movano offers a significant improvement over the outgoing model with some really creative thinking about the driver environment, plus an excellent new engine derived from the Renault-Nissan two-litre common rail engine used extensively in passenger cars and the Vivaro van. It's far more competitive than before with a broader range and exceeds the 3,500kg GVW limit for the first time for these models - necessary in the 17-seat minibus sector."
The new Movano aims to become the segment's benchmark for comfort thanks to a complete reappraisal of the driving position and controls, enhanced visibility and the availability of a raft of comfort-enhancing features normally associated with passenger cars.
They are available in front- and rear-wheel drive with four wheelbase and three roof height options. Load space ranges from 8.0m3 to 17.0m3 with load lengths of 2,583mm to 4,383mm, payloads up to 2,260kg and gross vehicle weights of 2.8t, 3.3t, 3.5t and 4.5t. The UK models, however, will not include any 2.8-tonners.
Under the bonnet, a new generation of 2.3 CDTi four-cylinder common-rail diesel engines combines strong performance with low operating costs. Three power outputs are available: 100PS/285 Nm, 125 PS/310 Nm and 150PS/350 Nm. All engines come with a six-speed gearbox as standard and are Euro 4 or Euro 5 (with DPF) compliant. The 125PS and 150PS versions can be coupled with the semi-auto Techshift transmission.
