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DGT Glossary
BC

Car-derived van

Vehicle that keeps a car's bodyshell and chassis but is built for carrying goods, with a single row of seats.

Definition

A car-derived van (vehículo derivado de turismo) starts life as a passenger car and is adapted for a different purpose, almost always carrying goods. It keeps the general appearance of the car it derives from — the same bodyshell and chassis — but its interior differs in one decisive way: it has only one row of seats, and the space the rear seats would occupy becomes load area. Spanish traffic law therefore treats it as a goods vehicle even though from outside it looks like a car.

Car-derived van, car and dual-purpose vehicle

A car carries people. An adaptable dual-purpose vehicle (vehículo mixto adaptable) carries people, goods or both, because its seats can be added or removed up to nine places including the driver. A car-derived van is not adaptable: it keeps the front row only and is destined for goods. It is driven on a category B licence, and in an unsigned narrow stretch it ranks with cars — behind lorries, tractor units, vans and buses, so it is the one that has to reverse.

Key facts

  • Car bodyshell and chassis, goods-vehicle purpose.
  • One row of seats only; the rest is load space.
  • Not adaptable — unlike the vehículo mixto, seats cannot be added back.
  • Driven on a category B licence.

Keep studying

Frequently asked questions

What is a vehículo derivado de turismo used for?
Carrying goods. It keeps a car's bodyshell but has only one row of seats, with the rest of the cabin turned into load space.
How is it different from a vehículo mixto adaptable?
The dual-purpose vehicle can carry people, goods or both by adding or removing seats, up to nine places. The car-derived van keeps a single row of seats and is destined for goods.

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