122 days into our Daily journey and it’s miles of smiles for any number of reasons. This month cab and comfort. But before that…

Well! Here we are, four months into our journey with our IVECO Daily 35.180 aka ‘Gus the Bus’. Being in transport for the vast majority of my life, you don’t experience the operational ‘Ooh la la’ that transport reformation in an enterprise brings. But now I have. We were a small business that had crappy transport – cars and trailers, trying to do shows out of the back of station wagons – and then IVECO New Zealand … like a genie from a bottle said, ‘Here! Have this’. Transformational!

We now know first-hand what a van has done for our business. In the broader context, having a van to dart off and grab what you need to keep the business operating – say, over the weekend? It might pay for itself in one or two loads.

The standout for us was pack-up at Wheels at Wānaka. As the barometer plummeted on Sunday afternoon, heavy and persistent rain arrived. What would have been an inventory disaster in a car boot and trailer covering job, was a throw and go in Gus. We were so grateful that night.

And let’s not forget the exposure side of things. It’s a billboard to the world for your business, and Gus is doing both us and IVECO New Zealand proud on that count. Good on ya, mate!

Cab and comfort

Gav reckons Gus is ‘funny’ to get into, but I have to say I’ve not yet experienced that. If you base your entry on running from back to front after your last delivery, it’s a sweet leap in. The only thing I have done is scone my head on the end of the half-deployed flip-down sun visor as I bounded in. You’ll only do that once I can tell you.

Seating is one of the Daily’s many strong points. I’ve got a couple of recalcitrant lumbar discs and they are without doubt the best vehicle seating auditors. Hand on heart, they haven’t even given a murmur. The big-truck style, body up, legs down posture is just superb, and having the suspended driver’s seat means I could honestly drive ‘Gus’ from Cape Reinga to Bluff and get out as fresh as a daisy. The relationship between seating, steering wheel and control ergonomics is superb.

There’s a huge door sill to rest your ar… sorry, there’s a huge door sill for whatever you might like to use a huge door sill for. Personally, I hold the steering at ten-to-two constantly … I’d never use the sill to rest my arm on … truly. (Cue, Tui ad).

It’s quiet and comfortable with sound in the mid 60dBa unless he’s really honking up a hill and then you’ll see low 70s. Non-truck and van types who have been for a blatt can’t get over the refinement and ambience. It does the practical elegance thing that Euros do so well, sporting lovely durable and scrubbable materials. The floor is vinyl and rubber – again, scrubbable. I even had the hose in there after Wānaka.

Fit and finish is faultless to date. It has the optional rear cab bulkhead too, so it’s a proper cabin. You’d need a head made of Italian marble – in more ways than one – not to spec it. It should be mandatory under WorkSafe.

Storage is so abundant you could live in it. It’s everywhere – above, below, atop the dash, to the front and sides. The parcel shelf in the cab overhead is good for 20kg according to IVECO. The one above the cab in the body … 60kg.

Any quibbles? They’re the same here as they are for pretty much all participants in the sub-big truck motoring world. Why can’t the dash have a slight wrap so the infotainment, heater, and switches are angled to the driver? Why have them facing the back window? Look at the gorgeous big wrap in the S-Way … where’s that design person? Yes, I know you’re going to say ‘it’s a walk-through van, Dave’, but don’t tell me in 2025 you can’t accommodate both pleasures.

You know me, and this is Euro trucks and vans across all brands – colour and pizzazz. Gus has dark blue fascia panels and teeny-weeny chrome bezels around the infotainment unit.

IVECO sales exec Keagen Wilde said the blue was special and isn’t actually ‘a thing’. Bugger! As I’ve said before – and it’s even worse in an Italian vehicle where they can channel their inner Enzo or Ferruccio – colour and chrome people! Come on!

Next time Gus and I are up in Auckland, I’ll try and collar Keagen for a video on the dash and controls. There’s a whole article just in that.