Revival – but not of the Goodwood kind

With the Escort van revived earlier this year and looking superb a problem arose, as Mrs Special pointed out. And that problem is the blue oval load-lugger is really just too good to use on an everyday basis.

The answer – another small van – but after being caught out with a later-generation Berlingo van that was anything but reliable it was a case of treading cautiously.

And yes, we’ve welcomed another Berlingo into the fold. But this one, being a first-generation model, should be more reliable as it’s clearly more analogue than digital. It shared workshop space with our Trooper, being the works hack at Carmarthen’s Oklahoma Motors and didn’t cost a fortune, but we’ve had a spend-up with local garage S&S to make sure it’s running well.

That work meant a new cambelt kit, new glowplugs, all-new front brakes and all new fluids, as well of course as a set of wipers

We also had a full set of new tyres too, bought from our mates at Llanelli’s Welsh Dragon Tyres.

And, of course, there was the full valet. The grubby Berlingo is now just the Berlingo, as a marathon cleaning session brought both the exterior and the interior back to life. Yes, the metallic silver paint is in many places no longer metallic, the bonnet having a fetching matt effect, but it’s way more presentable now.

We’ll have to address the alloy wheels, which are seriously grubby, but they’re likely to replaced with a set of refreshed steels. And we’ll replace the offside front indicator lens which is cracked and held together by tape. And a new floor mat is needed.

Other than that it’s good to go – fingers crossed it’ll be a better Berlingo experience this time…