What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide

Only a few years back, industry commentators hailed the demise of the car-derived van.

But far from our humble pie being delivered by the likes of the Citroen Nemo, Peugeot Bipper and Fiat Fiorino, there seems to be something of a post-cubism renaissance in the true car-based van.

Ford recently U-turned on the Fiesta Van, bolstering its re-introduction with a sporty model, while that hot-hatch doyen, the Corsa, has continued with its LCV ambitions unabated.

This is the fifth generation of the Opel Corsa, although in the UK, of course, Vauxhall chose the model name Nova before aligning with its European cousin.

Vauxhall was relatively late to this sector in truth, but nobody could accuse the latest Corsa of being behind the times, boasting one of the best cabin layouts in the business.

At the business end the Corsavan is not in the car-cube contenders’ league, of course. It has just 0.92m³ of load space and a load length of just over 1.2m, although on a 2.5m wheelbase that’s a reasonable achievement. Payload is 550kg, which, again, is right on the money for a van in this class.

Although vans are now very car-like in every respect, naturally it’s this class that fully reaps the advances in car design.

The Corsavan personifies this. The engines are strong: there is a 70hp 1.2-litre petrol unit that is not only very quiet but revs up so freely you will find yourself doing it just for fun, possibly to the detriment of your fuel consumption, so a better choice might be the diesel, by far the most popular on the used market.

This is a 1.3-litre common-rail turbo – naturally – and offers 75hp or 95hp, depending upon the model.

Either option is excellent. The lower-powered version is actually a bit more linear and less turbo-happy, but the higher output certainly has some punch.