Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2024 i What Motorhome

THE Chausson X650 Exclusive Line might be our Motorhome of the Year 2024 but its little brother came first, in 2021, and was so successful that Chausson stopped promoting it for a while in order to catch up with delivering the ’vans it had already sold. Our video of the X550 has had nearly 800,000 views – see it at motorhome.ma/review220 Here then is a low-profile motorhome with a unique look – all in black and white. Despite the ubiquitous Fiat Ducato cab, you’d never mistake it for anything else. Nor is it like anything else. It’s barely wider than a panel van and only 5.99m long, but it has a large lounge and a drop-down bed, plus a washroom that belies the ’van’s size. Almost TARDIS-like, this is perhaps…

CONTINENTAL campervans generally come in three flavours, all with fixed beds and all linked to the length of the base vehicle. Often you can tell the size by the model numbering system, with anything that has a ‘540’ after its name being the shortest, medium-wheelbase van now available in the Fiat Ducato line-up. Hymer doesn’t make things quite as easy to comprehend, preferring names to numbers, but marque devotees will know the Yellowstone (which we featured in April 2023) as the biggest and this Ayers Rock as the smallest. In fact, if you really and truly believe that smaller is better in the world of leisure vehicles, you’ll not find anything more petite that offers full washroom facilities on board. Indeed, this is currently the most compact vehicle in the…

RAPIDO’S C Series debuted for the 2021 model year, with slimline A-class motorhomes joining the low-profiles two seasons later. Now, there are six ‘C’ models to choose from, with the C03 the newest and smallest addition to the line-up. As well as being just 2.17m wide, this baby is only 6.19m long – shorter than an extra-long Fiat/Peugeot panel van. So, this is a truly petite coachbuilt but Rapido also made a conscious decision in its design to create a ’van that’s slightly longer than some of its rivals. Many of these small low-profiles with a transverse fixed bed at the rear – often referred to as ‘Van’ models in German-built ranges – are sub six metres, but the French firm decided that an extra 20cm in length would make…

THE Excel name returned this season on a new line-up of slimline low-profiles (2.24m wide), based on the Ford Transit. This 620G is the smallest model. Starting at £61,634, it’s one of Auto-Trail’s most affordable ’vans – and one of its most contemporary-looking. It’s not just about aesthetics, though, with practical touches like a low entrance step, opening overcab sunroof, external shower and a lithium leisure battery. We particularly like the choice of five cab colours, including this Chrome Blue. While those paint options are at no extra cost, you do need to budget for the two options packs. The Lux Pack (£1,578) adds the 9.5in touchscreen with sat-nav and colour reversing camera, as well as an external barbecue point, TV aerial, Omnivent two-way fan, solar panel, carpets and an…

WHILE we love the pared back, utilitarian and modular Yoka Go launched by German manufacturer, Dethleffs, last year, it’s not coming to the UK market. Not yet, at least. But its sister model, the Globebus Go, is also new, compact and based on the Ford Transit. It’s more conventional and on sale here. There are two layouts, the T 15 with a transverse double and the T 45 with fixed single beds. While the T 45 featured here is longer than the average full-sized campervan, at 6.69m, it is narrower than the average coachbuilt. Anyone who has extensively driven one of these more compact models will know the difference that 10 or 15cm makes when on the road and parking. It’s also telling that there has been a real resurgence…

IF you think you know this French maker’s slightly conservative style, think again. The Atlas is all-new this season and it’s a brave new world. For a start, it’s based on the Transit – Pilote’s first Ford in many, many years – and it’s a slim-bodied vehicle (2.20m wide). With its Magnetic Grey cab, black alloys and Trail grille (there’s no missing the Ford branding here), there’s something of the SUV to the styling of this motorhome – Pilote calls it an ‘adventure look’. It may not be a 4x4 but the Transit cab comes with four-season tyres and you’ll not be short of performance, thanks to the 170hp motor as standard. Ford’s six-speed automatic gearbox is also fitted as standard, along with automatic lights and wipers, tyre pressure monitoring,…

THE Yucon name was first seen on a campervan built by Frankia four years ago but it’s only now, in the 2024 season, that these vehicles are arriving here care of SMC Motorhomes in Newark. Initially, we expected only the Mercedes-based models, primarily with four-wheel drive, to be UK-bound but they’ve been joined a line-up of more affordable Fiat Ducato campervans. There’s a key difference, too, in that the Mercs are designed and built in Germany, whereas the Fiats come from Pilote’s factory in France. There are four models in the Ducato-based line-up: 54 B (medium-wheelbase, rear double bed), 60 B (a longer version), 63 H (extra long with the extra-high roof and an electric up/down rear bed) and this single bed layout, the 63 G. As the number implies,…

SLIMLINE motorhomes are on the up. Both Bailey and Auto-Trail have launched new ranges into this sector this season, along with French firm, Pilote, while Adria’s Compact is well established in the market and Rapido’s C Series enters its third model year. But, of those with a transverse rear bed, most are closer to six metres than seven. This new Alora instead goes longer for more living space. Then, while parallel – or face-to-face – lounge areas have started to dominate in ‘full-width’ coachbuilts, it’s still the half-dinette that is more usually seen in narrow-bodied ’vans. Not here. Bailey has installed the more open-plan style of seating, as well as having listened to early criticism of the fixed table, replacing that for production models with a free-standing unit that can…

NOT long ago, a £60,000 campervan wouldn’t have been considered a budget model. But that’s the reality now. So, when a good deal comes along, you need to be quick off the mark. That was the case with this new Etrusco, which had been reserved by a customer less than 24 hours after arriving at the dealer, Choose Leisure. Some of that buyer’s enthusiasm will have been down to cost. The CV 600 DB starts at £52,600, with this spec’d-up version coming in at £62,450, including the Complete Package. Outside, it’s Campovolo Grey with a colour-coded front bumper and black grille. Like many European ’vans, the sliding side door is on the offside, while the Complete Package adds an electric step, as well as alloy wheels and a Thule awning.…

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