Opel introduced a new Movano this week. Well, new… it is the Opel version of the trio Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer and Citroën Jumper. In fact, the ‘new’ Opel dates from 2006, very old although we should certainly not forget the extensive facelift of 2014.
The world of vans remains a fascinating mess for outsiders. In a market in which price, charging options and running costs far outweigh futilities such as brand experience and appearance, many brands seek each other out to create one company car.
Opel has been making things very colorful in recent years with regard to borrowing games. In recent years, the brand has borrowed its models alternately from Renault, Fiat and Peugeot / Citroën and is now of course fully grouped under Stellantis in the latter’s ‘pool’. That is the reason that the Movano is still being lifted in a ‘new’ guise, even if the question is how long the ‘new’ model will last in this form.
Youngtimer
The base car, the Fiat Ducato, which is called at Peugeot Boxer and at Citroën Jumper, is about 15 years old at the time of writing. Early specimens we could therefore call young timers, were it not that in most cases they are undoubtedly far from fresh workhorses. Even the facelift version is now 7 years old and therefore well out of date for passenger car concepts.
In delivery van land, however, everything is different and the – now – quartet can still go along. Over the years there have of course been more small refresher rounds for the model, but we are concentrating on the major overhaul of 2014. We also assume the ‘base car’ Ducato, but the facelift was in almost exactly this form also applied to the Boxer and Jumper.
More confident
The original front of the Italian / French trio is a striking whole. The windscreen, which is pulled down far down, changes almost without interruption into headlights placed very high in the nose, followed by a huge piece of plastic that you could describe as a combination of bumper and grille. Not a bad choice, because all three elements have practical advantages. The low window offers a good view of the road and potential obstacles, the high headlamps provide a good view in the dark and the huge front bumper means that parking damage, which is not uncommon for delivery drivers, can be repaired quite cheaply.
In 2014, most of these advantages were retained, but the front of the large buses did get a somewhat tougher look. This is mainly due to the headlights, which from this year take on a more squeezed shape and thus seem a bit more confident in the world. The relatively short bonnet was slightly V-shaped and now extended above the headlights. The low-slung grille remained, but was placed in a more rounded frame.
Outside the nose, the visible changes were limited. The interior was slightly modernized and the rear lights were arranged differently, but for recognisability you really have to be at the front. Although, recognizable… which of the four was it again?