Recently, we featured Volkswagen’s stylish Caddy Maxi Sportline – now it’s the turn of the van’s smaller brother.

The Caddy Sportline has all the style, grace and practicality of the Maxi but offers less payload and loadspace – and consequently a lower front-end price.

Sportline models are offered in both Caddy and Transporter ranges and are designed for small businesses which want a little more than a box on wheels to show off their prowess. 

How many firms have a lot of prowess to show off in today’s dire economic climate is a matter of conjecture, but suffice to say if you want to show off, this is the van to do it in.

The Caddy Sportline features as standard semi-automatic air-conditioning, electric heated mirrors, electric windows, remote central locking, ABS brakes, electronic braking control, electronic brakeforce distribution, traction control and a driver’s airbag, alloy wheels with low profile tyres, a full bulkhead, leather upholstery and chrome side rails.

Under the bonnet goes VW’s 2.0 TDI powerplant that you find in a variety of cars and vans, pumping out 140bhp at 4,000rpm and 236lb-ft of torque at between 1,800 and 2,500rpm.

That translates to a 0-60mph time of 10.1 seconds and a top speed of 116mph. Claimed fuel economy on the combined cycle is 45.6mpg and CO2 emissions are 165g/km.

In the business end, the Caddy weighs in at 2,222kg gross vehicle weight and offers a payload of 677kg and a load volume of 3.2 cubic metres. Our test model also had dazzling metallic paintwork at £305, which brings the van’s price to exactly £17,000.

This van is a stunner, although there isn’t a lot of plastic protection on the sides to keep that paintwork from being scratched. Inside the seats are hard yet supportive and there are a good few cubby holes and cupholders. 

On the road, this van is even noisier than its big brother thanks to the fact that the Maxi’s solid bulkhead is replaced with a slatted one. 

But noise apart, the Caddy Sportline really appeals. It has huge amounts of pulling power, low- profile tyres for a solid ride and will still return a fuel economy figure in the mid-40s.