Reality Check - The Ooomph Effect
The Ooomph Effect.

I feel the need... the need... for speed!

Yeah right. I should have chosen a Porsche. Well, some people do drive a Porsche, while other people prefer more utilitarian vehicles, such as station wagons, midi MPV's, and the like. Some even take the practical approach a little too far. Those people drive vans.

And why not? (I can think of many reasons, but space isn't one of them :-))

So. Let's say you want a van. But your boss restricts you to a specific brand and type. There's little else for you to do but spice it up a little and add your own personal touch. So. Here's a quick overview of one specific brand and type, all dressed up and decked out. Opel Vivaro, Nissan Primastar and Renault Trafic drivers rejoice. (I just wonder why...)

First an image of an existing car, A Renault Trafic, followed by a bunch of edited images to show different versions...

The basic image came from www.vivario.nl. Then I edited it a little using PhotoImpact (something like PhotoShop), just to see what I preferred myself. And as you may have a similar tough :-) decision to make, here they are for your enjoyment. (So you can laugh at my lack of taste.)

Unfortunately I'm no longer driving this thing, sigh... I loved it, sigh. Should have bought it, double sigh.
 
000. Renault Trafic L1H2 DC140 silver dynamique fivespoke glaslook with more than a few options... and no, this one ain't mine, sorry.

Boring? Well, you could add some gadgets... such as navigation, cruise control, leather, heated front seats, arm rests, cd or dvd player, push bar, side bars, roof rails, white instead of orange lights, larger engine, engine tuning, and more. If not representative, then at least fun :-)
101. Your average L1H2 van. Silver, yup. And some fancy wheels. Most often these things will be bland and white, red, yellow, blue, without any options.

Note that the pictures in some of the leaflets at the dealer are doctored with, and feature black plastic fenders etc.... Sorry to disappoint you, they're grey (and lighter than shows on these images).
102. Same beast but featuring the more and more popular double cabin (5 seater). Some extra seats for the poor employees with no room to stretch their legs. Great for dumping your kids too. If they're not too big.

This example and the next few all have 'darkened' side windows, which are a matter of taste.
 
103. Same thing, either in combi (9 seater) or DC (double cabin 5 seater) using glasslook panels (the window near the back is a fake in that case). If you go for glasslook panels, darken the middle windows as well...
201. Regular Renault van in 'Dynamique' looks, which implies a painted front and rear fender. Great for little accidents (apply sarcasm where appropriate).
301. Trying some different wheels. I prefer these over the ten spoke designs used above. Compare with the previous image for the impact of the 5 vs. 10 spoke wheel design.
302. Doublecabin in 'dynamique' looks, these wheels make it look somewhat more sporty, I'm not sure which style looks best for a double cabin version, without or with glaslook panels (see the next one)... I think this is the more sporty look.
303. Combi (or DC with glasslook panels) in 'dynamique' looks.
403. Let's try a black one next, just for size. Dynamique combi. May look better with sidebars added.

Note that those sleek looking black ones you encounter on the highway often have painted fenders and side strips. In real life, the regular gray colour of the plastic parts clashes with the black paintjob.
 
503. For the adventurous ones... Full silver, with the vertical fenders (?) on the back, and the side strips, all sprayed the same colour. This does look quite nice on a gold coloured car.

The Vivaro's have a different nose / front fender design which makes this colour scheme look somewhat more brutal.