Ford Tourneo Connect is a Postman Pat-style van that isn’t fast or fun – but it will still be a great motor for families

IT’S not beautiful, sexy, fast or fun to drive and it won’t impress the neighbours. So you don’t buy this car for what it is.

You buy it for what it does.

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It’s blindingly obvious the Ford Tourneo Connect is a people carrier based on the Transit Connect van.

Van buyers are rational. They need to know their vehicle will do the job. And this Tourneo Connect will do pretty well any job you throw at it.

Interior space is ridiculously generous for a family of five – and there’s an option for seven seats.

The boot is a chasm. Not just wide and deep but tall.

The front of the cabin, because it’s based on a little Transit, remember, has loads of cubbies and shelves for a van driver’s ­clobber.

Now, think how useful all this is for a ­family.

It’ll swallow tents, bikes, inflatables, musical instruments, whatever. They’d hardly touch the sides.

Even the front passenger seat folds forward, and all rear seats remove, so you can end up with a space long enough for a kayak.

The whole Postman Pat vibe means you’ve acres of glass around you and the roof is way above your head.

It makes you feel small but you’re sitting high and the vantage point is helpful.

You might expect a crude, noisy drive. But it’s not bad. It’s pretty quiet. The suspension is reasonably supple. The front seats are comfy.

It comes in three power types – diesel, petrol and plug-in hybrid (PHEV). All autos.

We tried the 150hp plug-in hybrid, which is the most powerful, and even it didn’t tackle hills with much gusto.

But it’s near-silent in town and the engine cuts in smoothly. The autobox is well sorted too.

The all-electric range is a real-world 50 miles.

It accepts DC rapid charging, so unlike with most PHEVs you can recharge ­during a long journey.

But on that electricity, it’s as expensive as driving on petrol. You need cheap-rate overnight home-charging.

Anyway, on motorways it’s thirsty because the electric motor doesn’t help and the petrol engine is fighting the air-drag of the bulky body.

Which is a pity because you’ll find excuses to do big miles.

It’s not a car you choose for what it is, but for the life it lets you have.