Top Gear Technology Centre Ford Transit Hovervan review

If you specify the headsets and intercom, you can enjoy pleasant conversation over the tremendous roar of the engines. It has a roster of driver aids, from rain sensitive wipers (which stop completely when moisture hits the screen), to a boat pole so you can push yourself away from seemingly magnetic riverbanks.

The doors have been completely removed, which makes it easier to evacuate in the quite probable event of sinking. As a result, the seats get a little damp, but that’s not unusual in a white van. That’s just one of a raft of safety features that doesn’t actually include a raft.

However, you could always buy some buoyancy aids, while the Hovervan comes with an emergency oxygen supply that could be used as a legal high if the BBC allowed that sort of thing.