Road Test: Peugeot Partner Combi 1.9D 5dr

This is not to get your sympathy, but I was burgled a few months ago. I reckon it must have been kids, because they didn't nick the telly or the video, just some cash. Anyway, I phoned the police and they sent round a nice lady to dust for fingerprints. She turned up in a Peugeot Partner, the van version of this - the Partner Combi.

Of course, her van was full of things like aluminium powder, ink, brushes and other scene-of-crime stuff. My Combi has windows and foldable rear seats. But there's still plenty of room to put things: two in-floor stowage bins, generous door pockets, another bin under the glove compartment and a big, deep, square boot with a plastic-covered floor.

If, while in a Peugeot Partner, I did apprehend any culprits down a narrow alleyway, getting them in the back would be simple. For the Partner is fitted with handy sliding rear doors. And as headroom is very generous, one wouldn't have to put one's hand on the suspects' heads as, handcuffed, they climb in - like the police have to with the saloon cars.

Despite the quite decent ride quality, you can never really shake the feeling that you're in a cheered-up van. The cheap stereo, the boominess of the cubic cabin and the lack of dual electric mirrors and aircon, plus the un-car-like seating position, go with the lukewarm 1.9-litre diesel engine to underline the vehicle's utilitarian air.

The great Homer (Simpson, that is) was once asked by wife Marge if their marriage was all he'd imagined it would be. I thought there'd be more driving around in a van solving crimes was his reply. And that's kind of the difference between my fingerprint lady's van and this Combi. Somehow the van's more interesting.

Colin Ryan