Why the Citroen Berlingo won: It can meet your every need yet doesn’t feel drab. Well priced, brilliantly thought out and appeals as an anti-status symbol.
The Berlingo is just one of the winners in this year's Britain's Best Car Awards - see the full list here.
Why is a big car big? Unless you’re into the rarefied atmosphere of Bentley and Rolls-Royce, it’s for a practical purpose: to carry people and stuff. That’s what the Citroën Berlingo does with exceptional brilliance. The fact that it does this with charm and character, while delivering ride comfort virtually as good as that of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class bristling with complex electronic aids, adds to the piquancy of the recipe.
You want carrying capacity? Start with a big steel box. Better still, start with a choice of two steel boxes of different lengths depending on whether you want to carry five people or seven. Give said box sliding rear doors for efficient loading in confined spaces. For further convenience, add a huge, overhanging tailgate that gives a low loading height and unimpaired access to every cubic centimetre – and creates a handy veranda when it’s bucketing down. You want head room and overhead cabin storage? Make it taller than the average car – but never too tall to fit into multi-storey car parks. You want it to be easy to park and fit down confined village streets? Give it straight sides. Also comfortable, upright seats and terrific visibility.
Only when you’ve done all this should you let your designers loose on it – but if they’re like Citroën’s current crop, they will surprise you by bringing both a relationship with the original Berlingo of 1996 and a taste of contemporary style. You will be gratified to find that many people love the Berlingo’s no-fuss demeanour and extreme practicality far more than a whole world of tinsel.
The Berlingo is made better by the arrival of the PSA Group’s excellent 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine (it’s almost sporty) and a choice of ultra-clean diesels. In some combinations, you can have an eight-speed automatic gearbox, too. What’s more, Citroën took the wise decision to equip top-end versions with all manner of life-enhancing equipment: automatic emergency braking, a head-up display, climate control, air conditioning, a rear-view camera and much more.
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Shame there's no leather option...
...for in its ability to be kept clean with a damp cloth it beats absorbent cloth any day.