Four-wheeled Five Star The Car As Accommodation
Sun Herald
Sunday February 28, 1999
Holden Suburban
Price: From $67,990
As a place to sleep, the Suburban has one thing going for it: size. Come to think of it, sheer bulk is about its only virtue as a vehicle. The big Chevrolet wagon (sold here by GM affiliate Holden) is ostensibly a 4WD, but it is wider than most bush tracks and therefore off-road use is limited. But the three rows of seats fold down to form a double - nay, queen-sized bed - and so if you find yourself back-of-Bourke without a motel room in sight, things could be worse. Come to think of it, the Suburban is also bigger than most Tokyo apartments, so it could well double as a home.
Holden Sandman panel van
Price: From $2000, secondhand
With the more lurid versions sporting shag-pile carpet, wet bar and television, and the more prosaic examples at least a greasy mattress, there was no doubting the real cargo was not plumber's gear, but two human beings, preferably horizontal.
VW Kombi
Price: From $500, secondhand
In some ways the Kombi was the Sandman's predecessor although its image leant more towards love and incense than sex and petrol. The VW offered a more gentle pace of life - even the very last versions with fully two litres of horizontally opposed Beetle four-cylinder power had trouble climbing hills - but the ubiquitous bubble shape immediately labelled its driver as an escapee from the Holden Kingswood mentality.
Porsche 911 Cabriolet
Price: From $199,900
Porsche says the latest 996 model has a bigger back seat and by supercar standards, yes, it is quite roomy. But you'd have to be a contortionist to sleep lying down in the 911's size-eight interior. Nope, if you're by yourself and driving a car like this then it's odds-on the bed you'll end up in will be someone else's.
The verdict
What they say about...
Daihatsu Sirion
Around $13,990 drive away
SMH: A miserly thirst, plenty of standard features, Korean-beating quality and reasonable ride and handling balance the Sirion's lack of performance.
Herald Sun: Driving Sirion is a pleasant surprise - a bit like its styling. It's a car that works better than the modest sum of its individual parts - and that tiny engine - might suggest.
The Age: With painted bumpers and big lights front and rear, the Sirion hides the fact that it's about the cheapest thing on the market rather well. Even the chrome-finished front bumper adds to, rather than detracts from, its looks. Fortunately, the side rubbing strip, which is chromed on the cars sold in Japan, is body coloured.
Sun Herald: Steep hills are not a strong point although performance is not painfully slow and the Sirion keeps up with the flow of traffic easily and comfortably. At high revs it sounds raunchy - or like a sewing machine - depending on your taste in engine music.
Sunday Mail: You get the impression of having minimal car around you, and lots of furiously moving parts not very far away. It's fun, in other words. Soon you discover that something smaller and lighter than normal can get along quite happily with an engine that's smaller than normal.
The verdict: Small, busy, well-built and fun to drive, and won't cost you a bomb, to buy or to run.
© 1999 Sun Herald
