Volkswagen's Crafter is a right old grafter

Biggest VW van will put in a shift for you, says Alan Anderson

- 

VW has a long standing tradition of range longevity.

The much loved lorry-like LT launched in 1975 and ran for almost 20 years relying on only mild facelifts before being replaced by Crafter; essentially a Mercedes Sprinter using VW engines.

The range ran for a decade before it was replaced by the second generation.

Now an all-VW design, almost as soon as it came onto the market it was voted van of the year. In fact the design was deemed so good that a 2024 revision only majored on driver refinement and added safety features such as autonomous emergency brakes with 'front assist', electronic parking brake, lane assist, cyclist and pedestrian detection, speed limiter and better parking sensors.