It’s fair to say that professional photographer Rod Kirkpatrick gets about a bit. Rod, in his trusty Proace City compact van, travels the length and the breadth of the UK in search of images and stories for both national and local newspapers. In this weekly diary, Rod shares his experiences of being a Toyota Proace city owner.

How much can you fit in a Toyota van?

With my ever-growing collection of photography and videography equipment – including cameras, tripods and even ladders – I needed a vehicle that was both easy to load and could transport all of this safely, and the Proace City does that job extremely well. See the video below.

11th October 2021: how I became a Proace City owner

For years I carted all my photographic gear around in the back of estate cars. The daily grind of folding the rear seats flat and cramming everything in was monotonous but seemed to do the trick well enough. 
But as I began to invest in more equipment – especially for the developing videography side of my business, I began to run out of space.

My Citroen estate car didn’t have enough room for all my equipment, so I decided I needed a van.

My collection of tripods, poles, ladders and other long pointy things was growing almost daily; the car was permanently packed to the gunnels. This made work-life tough due to the constant packing and unpacking needed to reach cameras and equipment for each shoot. It took its toll on me and my trusty workhorse, with it rapidly showing signs of wear, rips and general degradation. The headlining tore first, then the rubber seal around the boot lid fell off and a mysterious dent appeared on the rear bumper. 

“A van” I thought to myself. “Maybe I should get a van?” This might be the solution to the blindingly obvious problem that my car could no longer do the job. In June, I toured the dealerships of several manufacturers test-driving everything I thought I fancied and a few I didn’t. Within a week I’d narrowed down a shortlist of little vans which I thought would fit the bill, and make work life a lot easier.

I can now safely transport my photography equipment in the Proace City van.

I asked for a couple of quotations. One of these took nine days, and was for the wrong van! The other, from Toyota, was waiting for me in my inbox by the time I got home from the test drive. It gave me three options on financing and a staggeringly good deal on an ex-demonstrator Proace City I’d driven earlier in the week. But it was the five-year warranty, extendable to ten through Toyota Relax which swung the deal. 

After getting a great deal through a Toyota dealer, I became a Toyota Proace City owner.

Three days later, after a quick clean and polish, I put my estate car up for sale, photographing each of its tears, dents and missing seals before my nearly-new Proace City Compact Icon was delivered to my door. 
Watch this space to find out what it’s like to live and work with a little Toyota van.

Source