You don't need me to tell you that the world was a very different place in 2001, when the Fiat Doblo first went on sale in the UK. It hitched a ride on the back of a formula that had been pioneered by the French, with rivals like the Citroen Berlingo Multispace and the Renault Kangoo showing that there was a latent demand for cheap, spacious family transport.
Many thought this was a bit of a phase, a genre of vehicle that would rapidly be replaced by something a bit less van-like. Sure enough, this type of vehicle has become a bit slicker, largely because vans have become correspondingly smarter, safer and better to drive. For proof of that, you've only to look at the car we profile here, the second generation Fiat Doblo, built in its original form between 2010 and 2014.