...if I had the money

...I'd buy a Volkswagen T4/T5

A what? A van? Are you mad? Perhaps, but then I'm not alone. The Volkswagen T4 and T5 Transporter and Caravelle are incredibly popular, and not just with the building trade. They exude the curious aura that surrounds all Volkswagens, one that allows dull cars to be cool simply because of the badge, and workhorse commercial vehicles like the Caddy and Transporter to be ravenously snapped up by tuners and those of a "lifestyle" persuasion.

The T4 was released in 1990 and ran for thirteen years before the T5 took over, but their coolness can surely be attributed to their lineage - they owe their existance to their great grandad, the Volkswagen Type 2 "Splittie", beloved and revered by hippes and surfers the world over. Despite the later vans' more utilitarian slant and the loss of the rear engined, rear drive layout, the modern vans are still supremely useable and being vans, are still ripe for converting into do-it-all camper vans and customising with big wheels, paintjobs and glitterballs in the back.

Though lacking in character compared to the earlier vans and having a distinctly more "commercial" soundtrack than the old aircooled flat-four thanks to turbodiesel engines, the T4 and T5 are still brilliant vehicles and deservedly popular on the aftermarket. You are equally likely to see a T4 or T5 at a Volkswagen show as you are to see a Beetle or Golf. Yet unlike those two classics, you can also sleep overnight in the Transporter.

Just like with my previous "if I had the money", the Alfa 146, I've actually driven a Transporter. I rented one for a day to help my flatmate move in, having been promised "A Ford Transit, or similar" by the rental company website. Thankfully for me, it was a T5, of which I'd always been curious to try out but never had the opportunity.

The T5 marked not only the first van I'd driven, but also the first Volkswagen and the first diesel. On not one of the above counts did it disappoint. Sure, I'd been given a basic, 84bhp 1.9 TDI variant rather than the significantly more potent 2.5, 5-cylinder TDI with up to 174bhp, but it still moved with impressive haste and the growly diesel was music to my ears. I tend to subconsciously readjust my expectations when I hop into new vehicles meaning that even something quite shoddy can win my affections, but as far as I could tell it was a tidy handler too, and the interior was great even with several thousand miles worth of rental driver bottoms on the seat. The dash-mounted gearshift was particularly sweet, and the pedals all pleasantly un-vanlike and light to use.

From what I've heard the T4 is a nice drive too - perhaps not as polished as the T5 and not as stylish, but the T4 makes up for it by being significantly more affordable - scruffy ones are as little as a grand, and you can get clean ex-electrician vans from about £2k. With subtle tidying up they can look great too - most original equipment VAG wheels will slot straight on, meaning your T4 can be rolling on Audi RS4 wheels in no time.

In the end I only drove the T5 for 21 glorious miles, enough for a trip around town with a back full of posessions and an Ikea trip, but it was enough to bring me well and truly out of the commercial vehicle closet and the Transporter now takes place on my ultimate garage wishlist.

In the garage: T5 2.5 TDI 174, deep black pearl, Audi RS4 wheels, a subtle drop and a camper conversion with matt silver units and a bed with red silk sheets...

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...if I had the money

...I'd buy an Alfa Romeo 146

In another regular series, I'll be writing about cars that I'd put in my ultimate garage. Not exotics, mind you, anyone can reel off the different Ferraris and Porsches they'd have in their "dream garage". No, thanks to my substantial geekiness, my dream garage would have to be rather large as it'd be full of hundreds of cars that are cheap, obscure or perhaps just a little bit cool.

We kick off with the Alfa 146. Replacing the 33 in 1994, the 145 and 146 were designed to compete in the mid-sized hatchback market. The 3-door 145 won fans and critics alike with "bread-van" styling, and the 146 was a more conventional though still unusual 5-door hatchback. Original cars were served with Alfa's 1.5 and 1.7 boxer engines that had seen service in the 33, but these were outdated and Alfa quickly equipped the cars with their excellent 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 Twin Spark inline-fours in 1996.

I actually came quite close to buying a 146 recently. On the lookout for cars to replace my old Fiesta, I came across a 1.8 in an unusual shade of browny-gold for not a lot of money. Unable to resist the temptation of driving my first Alfa Romeo, I took it for a test drive.

Predictably, I loved it. Sure, it had some faults - the driving position had apparently been designed for someone with body proportions not dissimilar to Bender from Futurama. Bender's flexible limbs would have made getting used to the pedals much easier too, as normal feet seemed somehow insufficient and under-jointed for the task. Also, given the choice of the 146 and the QE2 for a trip to the shops, I'd have to pick the liner for it's superior turning circle. And of course, there'd always be a tiny voice in the back of your mind telling you that it might choose not to start one morning.

Niggles aside though, it was great. It sounds clichéd to use terms like "passion" and "character" but it would be somehow wrong not to. The engine sounded alive and angry. The snarly exhaust note was intoxicating and the slick gearbox allowed me to enjoy it. The brakes were firm and responsive and any thoughts of a poor turning circle disappeared on the open road as little over two turns lock-to-lock required recalibration of my senses after slow-witted normal cars.

There were intangibles too though. The colour, which suited the car even though on anything else it would look horrific. The way the car smelled Italian - so similar to the old Fiat Unos we'd had in the family before. Even the badge in front of you on the steering wheel, which seems so much more special than so many others. Finally, I like the way you see so few of them. This isn't because they've all rotted away like Alfas of old or like Ford Escorts of the same vintage, but because not many people bought them in the first place.

And you can buy them for peanuts. It's entirely possible to get a fairly good one for less than a grand. For this reason, if I had the money, I'd buy one.

In the garage: 146 1.8ts, Grigio Luce di Amalfi ("Light Amalfi grey"), Speedline wheels from 155 Silverstone, 30mm drop.

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