Innholdsfortegnelse for December/January 2024 i What Motorhome

WINNER Rapido 606F FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE Peugeot Boxer PRICE FROM £74,800 BERTHS 4 TRAVEL SEATS 4 LENGTH 6.69m WIDTH 2.35m HEIGHT 2.90m GROSS WEIGHT 3,500kg PAYLOAD 545kg IN the October issue we said the Rapido 606F “looks like winner.” I hope we didn’t give the game away too early but this new 2024-season model seemed like a shoo-in for the Drop-down Bed award from the get-go. This type of motorhome – sub 7m in length with a large front lounge, an equally generous rear washroom and, importantly, a full-sized garage but without a fixed bed – has been growing steadily in popularity since Chausson first brought us the concept with its 640. It’s not hard to see the appeal of models like this, which offer lots of living space…

WINNER Laika Kreos H 5109 FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE Fiat Ducato Al-Ko PRICE FROM £157,000 BERTHS 4 TRAVEL SEATS 4 LENGTH 7.89m WIDTH 2.32m HEIGHT 3.03m GROSS WEIGHT 4,500kg PAYLOAD TBC HOW many motorhomes can claim that they were conceived by automotive design royalty? Well, the Kreos can. For its flagship A-class, Laika turned to GFG Style, the company of Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro with a back catalogue of creating cars wearing Alfa Romeo, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati logos. That’s no surprise, as GFG had already created the low-profile Kreos L 5009, which was highly commended in this category a year ago. The H 5109 takes the layout of its low-profile cousin and adds A-class comfort and even more designer panache. With its simple black and white exterior colour scheme, minimalist…

WINNER Chausson X650 Exclusive Line FROM our seven category winners, our judges went on to choose our overall Motorhome of the Year 2024. Here’s why the Chausson X650 takes the top prize… “Chausson has taken a proven and popular layout, then added a twist – that flexible wardrobe means you can allocate more storage to mucky stuff or clothes according to your needs.” Rachel Scholes, Awards judge and Deputy Editor MMM “What an amazing motorhome! This X650 will perfectly suit anyone looking for a compact, easy-to-manoeuvre coachbuilt with all the comforts of a much larger model. It’s packed with excellent design elements and some innovative touches, all in a really well-thought-out interior.” Daniel Attwood, Managing Editor MMM “The X650 is quite remarkable in what it offers within a panel van-sized body.…

WINNER Globecar Summit Shine 540 FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE Fiat Ducato PRICE FROM £62,995 BERTHS 2/5 TRAVEL SEATS 4 (3 or 5 optional) LENGTH 5.41m WIDTH 2.05m HEIGHT 2.58m GROSS WEIGHT 3,500kg PAYLOAD 805kg FIXED bed campervans based on the Fiat/Peugeot van are available from a bewildering number of brands and, in layout at least, they all look much of a muchness. So, here’s a category where you, perhaps, need our guidance more than any other, and the models on this page should definitely be on your shortlist. The Summit Shine is the latest range from a German brand that builds only campervans, mostly on these Sevel panel vans. It has a reputation for excellent build quality and, with this newcomer, it has also introduced some interesting innovations. There are…

WINNER VW California Concept FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE VW T7 Multivan PRICE FROM Not on sale yet BERTHS 4 TRAVEL SEATS 4 LENGTH 5.17m WIDTH 1.94m HEIGHT 1.99m GROSS WEIGHT TBC PAYLOAD TBC OVER 260,000 California campervans have been sold over a 35-year period, making it the world’s most successful campervan. Sales of the current T6.1 generation show no signs of abating but regulations will soon bring an end to production of the Transporter in this form, so Volkswagen has had to develop a new model. Many expected it to be a copy and paste conversion of the new panel van to be launched in 2024, which is a joint development with Ford. Who would have blamed VW for not messing with what is clearly a winning formula? It must have…

WINNER Frankia Now FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE Fiat Ducato PRICE FROM £82,995 BERTHS 2/4 TRAVEL SEATS 4 LENGTH 7.05m WIDTH 2.30m HEIGHT 3.05m GROSS WEIGHT 3,500kg PAYLOAD 550kg JUST occasionally, a new motorhome appears at a show without any prior hullabaloo and then it grabs our attention as an unexpected star of the show. That’s exactly what happened with the Frankia Now at this year’s Caravan Salon Düsseldorf. From a premium brand best known for its big, luxury A-class models on Mercedes-Benz chassis, this is something completely different – a low-profile on the ubiquitous Fiat cab and with a 3,500kg maximum weight to suit any driver. But so far, so ordinary. Nothing about the exterior of the Now prepared us for the fact that we’d nickname it the Frankia Wow. Bar…

WINNER Swift Voyager 475 FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE Ford Transit PRICE FROM £69,995 BERTHS 5 TRAVEL SEATS 5 LENGTH 7.54m WIDTH 2.37m HEIGHT 2.98m GROSS WEIGHT 3,500kg PAYLOAD 430kg WELCOME back the overcab bed! Over recent years, low-profile motorhomes with drop-down beds have almost seemed like they were pushing their luton overcab rivals towards dinosaur-like extinction. But, perhaps, not any more. Swift, Britain’s largest maker of motorhomes, campervans, caravans and holiday homes, still has faith in this type of vehicle, as witnessed by the arrival of the new Voyager 4 Series. Family buyers could opt for the 485 model on the following page, but it’s the 475 that would be our top choice for touring with kids. It sleeps five and has five seatbelts to match and key to its success…

WINNER Bürstner Lyseo TD Lounge FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE Fiat Ducato PRICE FROM Not yet on sale, see text BERTHS 2 TRAVEL SEATS 2 LENGTH 6.99m WIDTH 2.30m HEIGHT 2.95m GROSS WEIGHT 3,500kg PAYLOAD N/a AYEAR ago, Bürstner very nearly took this award for its Lyseo TD Gallery − the low-profile motorhome with the incredible inflatable overcab bedroom, reached by a real staircase. Originally just a concept vehicle, such was customer interest that the Gallery is now part of Bürstner’s model range, so we’re rather hoping that it’s the same outcome with the company’s latest innovative project. At this year’s Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf, Bürstner revealed the Lyseo TD Lounge, with a push-out mechanism that creates a completely new interior ambience, thanks to the extra 65cm of width available in…

WINNER Ecowagon Expo+ FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE VW Transporter T6.1 PRICE FROM £38,995 conversion only BERTHS 4 TRAVEL SEATS 4 LENGTH 4.90m WIDTH 1.90m HEIGHT 1.90m to 2.10m GROSS WEIGHT 3,200kg PAYLOAD 600kg ECOWAGON is virtually in a class of its own when it comes to VW campervans. It offers a full line-up of models but makes no secret of the fact that most of its builds are the top-of-the-range Expo+. Once you’ve seen one, you wouldn’t want anything less! There are no surprises with the layout – a rear bench/bed and side kitchen – but why would you mess with what works (and sells) best in a Volkswagen Transporter? Where the Expo+ excels is in its build quality and spec. Two key features with any VW campervan are the roof…

WINNER Bailey Endeavour B62 FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE Ford Transit PRICE FROM £69,999 BERTHS 2 TRAVEL SEATS 2 LENGTH 5.98m WIDTH 2.11m HEIGHT 2.82m GROSS WEIGHT 3,500kg PAYLOAD 627kg THIS is Bailey’s first-ever (long-awaited) campervan. It adopts the classic (and perenially popular) two-berth, rear lounge layout to appeal to a mass-market audience. But, while almost every mainstream rival is based on a Sevel van (Fiat Ducato or Peugeot Boxer), the Endeavour is based on a Ford Transit (like Bailey’s Adamo and new Alora motorhomes). That gives it the advantage of a smoother, more comfortable ride and a better (more car-like) driving position with lower seating and more adjustment (reach and rake) for the steering column. This isn’t just any Transit, but the tallest (H3) version, chosen to give excellent interior…

WINNER CamperKing FACT FILE CAMPERKING Banbury Road, Warmington, Banbury OX17 1JJ TEL 01295 500025 WEB camperking.co.uk FOR the second year in a row, this award, voted for solely by you – our readers – has been won by Banbury-based CamperKing. This is the only campervan award not judged by our editorial team. CamperKing is one of the biggest campervan converters in the UK, producing up to 35 Volkswagen Transporters a week. That’s a lot of ’vans, and although CamperKing is probably not a name you’ll have seen at the major motorhome shows, it reckons it builds more camper conversions on the Transporter than anyone else in the UK. In fact, it works exclusively on Transporters to create a fleet of campervans to suit varying customer needs and price points. Its…

WINNER Bailey Alora 69-4S FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE Ford Transit PRICE FROM £75,499 BERTHS 4 TRAVEL SEATS 4 LENGTH 6.99m WIDTH 2.12m HEIGHT 2.85m GROSS WEIGHT 3,500kg PAYLOAD 500kg MAKING an unexpected debut at the Motorhome & Caravan Show was Bailey’s latest motorhome range, Alora. The company’s first narrow-bodied coachbuilts (just 2.12m wide), they reflect a growing interest in slimline vehicles that offer the space, comfort and insulation of a motorhome in a size a little closer to that of a campervan. However, at almost 7m long, the Alora was considered too big to fit into our Compact Motorhome award category. The brand-new range includes the expected single bed and island bed floorplans, but it’s the transverse bed model, the 69-4S, that appealed to our judging panel. Yes, it has the…

WINNER Chausson X650 FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE Fiat Ducato PRICE FROM £79,490 BERTHS 4 TRAVEL SEATS 4 LENGTH 6.36m WIDTH 2.10m HEIGHT 2.75m GROSS WEIGHT 3,500kg PAYLOAD 580kg AS of the time of writing (9 October), our video of the Chausson X550 has had 776,527 views (you can watch it at motorhome.ma/review220) – that’s the level of interest in this rather special campervan/motorhome crossover. However, the winner of our Best Compact Motorhome Award 2024 is not the X550, because that debuted in 2021 (and sold so much like pâtisserie chaud that Chausson temporarily dropped it from the brochures to catch up with building sold orders!). No, this year’s very worthy winner is the X650, the X550’s new and slightly bigger brother. The X650 takes everything that made the X550 so…

WINNER Oaktree Motorhomes FACT FILE OAKTREE MOTORHOMES Gin Close Way, Awsworth, Nottinghamshire NG16 2HH TEL 01159 303140 WEB omcmotorhomes.co.uk TAKING second place in last year’s awards, Oaktree Motorhomes in Nottinghamshire took the top spot in our 2024 Motorhome Dealer category, voted for purely by the public. This family-run dealer specialises in nearly new or used motorhomes for all budgets and requirements. Each model comes with a free three-year RAC warranty, full one-year MoT and road tax, 60-point engine service and cambelt check, and a habitation service. Oaktree believes this package is unique to the industry and just one of the reasons why the company has gained a 4.9 out of five rating on Trustpilot, making it the number one rated motorhome dealer in the UK. If you wanted to spread…

WINNER CJL Leisure Grande Adventure 600-4 FACT FILE BASE VEHICLE VW Crafter PRICE FROM £113,700 BERTHS 2/4 TRAVEL SEATS 4 LENGTH 5.99m WIDTH 2.04m HEIGHT 2.84m GROSS WEIGHT 3,500kg PAYLOAD 350kg WHAT exactly is cool? It’s hard to put your finger on it, but you’ll certainly know it when you see it. When it comes to campervans, it’s a design that really stands out from the crowd, a true head-turner, with features that will make you say “wow” – and all of those certainly apply to our winner. When the judging team first set eyes on the Grande Adventure 600-4 at the NEC show it stopped us in our tracks. It looked incredible, with eye-catching, lime-green contour line decals contrasting with the dark grey body. When we had a closer…

WINNER CJL Grande Adventure 600-4 FOR the second year running, the coveted overall campervan of the year title goes to a surprise victor, a model that we’d not clapped eyes on prior to the NEC show, but never has a debutante been so worthy of an award first time out. Take a bow, the Grande Adventure 600-4 from CJL Leisure. “It’s the attention to detail that’s mindblowing in the Grande Adventure, from the anti-rattle cutlery and crockery to the 460Ah of lithium leisure batteries and 3kW inverter.” Peter Vaughan, Head of the judging panel, Editor What Motorhome “As soon as I set eyes on the Grande Adventure I knew it was special – and on closer inspection, it turned out to be absolutely exceptional. So much thought has gone into…