Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2022 i Campervan

Contributors Nicola & Nigel Cooke Hazel Hutchinson Carol Kubicki Ellen Manning Barry Norris Lois Parker Sue & Tim Reed Rachel Stothert Claire Tupholme Peter Vaughan Mike Waterman After months of assessments, debates and let’s just call them heated discussions, the judges have named the winners of the Campervan Awards 2023, which are brought to you in association with leading consumer finance provider, Creation. This is the Campervan Awards’ inaugural year and it really was a tough task for the judges to assess all the new campervans that have been launched for the 2023 season. However, they did it, and those of you who were at the NEC show in October will have seen the winners but, in case you couldn’t make it to the show, we have dedicated much of…

Communication failures by the DVLA about what a campervan is are leaving people confused and is a failure of its role, according to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The PHSO investigated two cases brought by people who converted vans into campervans but had multiple applications to change their vehicle’s logbook rejected by the DVLA. Having a vehicle registered as a van with windows rather than a motor caravan (the term ‘motor caravan’ is used by the DVLA for both campervans and motorhomes) means the owner can face a number of issues, including higher fees on toll roads, costlier MoTs, having to abide by different speed limits and finding insurance cover. Ombudsman, Rob Behrens, said, “People expect and deserve clarity and openness from public bodies like the DVLA. When…

WINNER Swift Monza Base vehicle Ford Transit Custom Travel seats 5 Berths 4 Gross weight 3,190kg Payload 481kg Length x width x height 4.97m x 2.03m x 2.12m Price from £65,680 The Monza packs a lot into a small body – it’s a multipurpose campervan that offers true style and practicality. Based on the Ford Transit Custom, it has a 2-litre EcoBlue engine providing an ample 128bhp (130PS). The manual gearbox is standard, but you can upgrade to the auto' with either the same power or 168bhp (170PS). There are four exterior colours – Magnetic Grey, Diffused Silver, Chrome Blue and Orange Glow. Inside, we prefer the lighter furniture scheme (Contempo), but there is a darker one (Techno Sport), too, which may show fewer scuffmarks and grubby prints. The curved…

WINNER Cargo Clips Castello Base vehicle MAN TGE or Mercedes Sprinter Travel seats 2-4 Berths 2-4 Gross weight varies Payload varies Length x width x height 5.98m-6.80m x 2.02m-2.04m x varies Price from Around £100,000 We’re pretty aware that the definition of cool can be very subjective, making this one of the hardest categories to judge. We were looking for something with an indescribable quality that makes it stand out from the crowd. So, meet the Castello by Cargo Clips. This Austrian firm is only just starting to make inroads into the UK market but a UK base of operations has been set up to expedite this. The exterior is fairly simple but it’s inside where the fun starts. Instead of your traditional boarded walls, there are beautifully made wooden panels…

Ellen Manning Base vehicle Fiat Ducato Conversion Auto-Trail V-Line 635 Sport Owned since May 2022 Drive Front-wheel drive Engine 2.3-litre 140bhp diesel Economy 32/33mpg Gearbox 6-speed manual Travel seats 2 Berths 2 Equipment Smart TV, reversing camera, three-burner hob, oven, 800W microwave, three-way fridge/freezer, electric flush cassette toilet, LED lighting, 25-litre underslung gas tank, Whale heating and water heater, TV aerial, 230V sockets, 12V LED reading lights, external gas barbecue point, external cold shower, wind-out awning, solar panel, LED exterior awning light For many, getting a campervan is about downsizing. Stripping out the unnecessary stuff from your life and realising that you can live in a far smaller space than you’re used to. But for some of us, the journey of campervan ownership also involves a period of upsizing. That moment…

New campervan festival launches for 2023 Known for organising market-leading outdoor leisure events, Warners Shows has launched a new campervan festival to add to its portfolio for 2023. Campervan Campout will take place at the South of England Showground in Ardingly, West Sussex, from 5-7 May 2023. The event will feature live music from 11am – 10pm every day, including a DJ set from Trunk of Funk legend, Craig Charles, a campervan shopping village, farmers' market, Wellness Sanctuary, Vanlife theatre, street food area, gin festival and funfair. A selection of bloggers, vloggers and podcasters will be sharing their experiences and advice in a packed seminar timetable across the three days; meanwhile, the Wellness Sanctuary will offer visitors yoga sessions, breathing workshops and mental health talks as part of their entry…

Celebrating its fifteenth anniversary in 2023, the high-quality campsites group, Premier Parks, has just revealed which 100 campsites are featured in the collection for the coming season. The group was created in 2008 by the editorial teams behind magazines including Campervan to provide readers with a choice of the best campsites and touring parks across the UK and Northern Ireland. Personally visited and inspected by a member of the team, the Premier Parks group showcases the best in touring and camping luxury by only selecting campsites with top facilities, great pitches and in popular locations. From rural countryside retreats to full-on family fun holiday parks, the top-notch sites offer a first-class holiday experience. This season sees the group welcoming 13 new sites in Cornwall, Devon, Sussex, Kent, Essex, Shropshire and…

WINNER Globe-Traveller Voyager Z Base vehicle Fiat Ducato Travel seats 4 Berths 4 Gross weight 3,500kg (3,820kg option) Payload 440kg Length x width x height 6.36m x 2.06m x 3.00m Price from £95,995 (as shown) This was, perhaps, the hardest category to judge. We looked at everything from Giotti Van models with super-keen sub-£60k price tags to the fabulous new RP Rebellion at close to £200k. In between there were plush, redesigned Hymers, as well the two highly commended models. So, it was hardly expected that a brand just launching in the UK would take the top spot. Globe-Traveller is a maker of high-end campervans on Fiat Ducato and Peugeot Boxer vans, but that’s where the similarity with other fixed bed campervans ends. The difference with the Voyager Z starts…

WINNER Wheelhome Vikenze III-e Base vehicle Vauxhall Combo-e Life Travel seats 2/4 Berths 1+1 Gross weight 2,290kg Payload 310kg Length x width x height 4.40m x 1.92m x 1.84m Price from £58,000 Watch the video motorhome.ma/review262 Electric campervans are still in their infancy but one small company has shown larger brands how it can be done. The Vikenze III-e might be by far the smallest ’van in our awards this year but its battery and solar capacities put larger models in the, err, shade. The reasoning behind this electric tour de force is simple. If your camping is mostly fairly local, you don’t need to worry about en route charging – simply leave home fully charged (you don’t even need a wallbox) and recharge on your campsite pitch via the…

Coast? Check. Countryside? Check. Walking? Check. Beautiful beaches, vast countryside and outdoor activities galore all combine in Somerset, to offer a county with plenty to explore. Let’s start with the countryside bit, since the majority of west Somerset is composed of the Exmoor National Park. Here you can step out on two feet or hop on two wheels onto the many footpaths and rights of way that allow you to experience this rugged landscape at your leisure. You can also try wild swimming, coasteering, riding… The list is endless! Now to the coastline. Long, sandy beaches and popular coastal resorts contrast with the dramatic rocky Exmoor coastline. Whether you want a beach for building sandcastles or a more secluded location for taking in the sound of the waves, you’ll find…

Having just finished touring the coast of Brittany, we were about to head back across France to the east when our attention was caught by a strange spectacle that can be found in the city of Nantes. We decided it would be worth a detour and so headed that way, not really knowing what options for parking there might be. Finding somewhere to park in a city can sometimes be difficult, but we found a great set-up at the Nantes campsite where you can choose to pay extra for camping facilities (showers, picnic tables, sunbeds, etc) or stay at Nantes camping-car Petit Port, which is literally attached to the main campsite, and includes the usual emptying facilities, water and electric, but at a reduced rate compared to the campsite section.…

In the race to go north to the Highlands and Islands, this corner of southwest Scotland can sometimes be overlooked. Travelling north, turn left from the motorway just past Gretna, head west along the A75 and you have the beautiful lands of Dumfries and Galloway to explore, with their rolling green hills and stunning coastline. For this trip, we’ve homed in on the Machars, a peninsula in the southwest, signposted as Scotland’s Historic Treasure House. We plan some wild camping, a spot of foraging, to soak up the history, walk, cycle and recharge our batteries in this gentle landscape of pretty villages, harbours, beaches and views. Scotland’s National Book Town Turning off from the main road, we headed down the A714 to Wigtown. As a writer, I’m pulled with a…

On sale 15 December 2022 Plus A spotlight on Love Campers, coasting along in France, the latest gear and gadgets, and more All contents subject to change Subscribe at outandaboutlive.co.uk 01778 392019 subscriptions@warnersgroup.co.uk Digital Campervan offers To enjoy access to a fully searchable digital library of all issues of Campervan since it was launched, visit motorhome.ma/exdigi22cpvn For extra photos, video, interactive adverts, live web links and additional web-based articles, head to motorhome.ma/cpvnpocketmags…

An all-new version of Europe’s best-selling van, the Ford Transit Custom, has been shown for the very first time. The electric version of the new Transit Custom features next-generation battery technology to enable a targeted range of 236 miles and 125kW fast-charging ability for the fully electric model. As part of the most comprehensive Transit Custom range ever, customers will also be able to choose an all-new plug-in hybrid version that offers petrol power for extended trips. The new powertrain is similar to that used by the Ford Kuga Plug-In Hybrid – Europe’s top-selling PHEV in 2021 – and combines a 2.5-litre petrol engine with an 11.8kWh battery to deliver a targeted pure electric driving range of up to 35 miles. But electric power won’t be the only option, as…

WINNER CMC HemBil Urban Base vehicle VW Transporter T6.1 Travel seats 5 Berths 5 Gross weight 3,200kg Payload 600kg Length x width x height 4.90m x 1.90m x 2.00m Price from £63,500 (Comfort spec) Here’s one award for which the winner was almost a foregone conclusion. It’s hard to argue with the fact that the Road Test Editor went out and put his own hard-earned cash into one of these! But why, with the hundreds of different side kitchen VW Transporter-based campers on the market, should you follow him and choose a CMC HemBil Urban? Well, for a start, its maker – Concept Multi-Car, in Kent – has quite a pedigree. It has been building VW campers since 1988 and was the company that first brought campervan components from Reimo…

WINNER CamperKing CamperKing Banbury Road, Warmington, Banbury, Oxfordshire OX17 1JJ camperking.co.uk 01295 500025 camper_king Voted by you, the readers The only campervan award not judged by our editorial experts, instead we asked you – readers and campervanners – to vote for your favourite converter. The winner, CamperKing, is not a name you’ll have seen at the major motorhome shows and yet it claims to build more camper conversions on the Volkswagen Transporter than anyone else in the UK. That’s currently up to 35 vehicles per week. Its premises, near Banbury in Oxfordshire, were previously a prestige car sales site where CamperKing can display up to seven of its campervans indoors, as well as showing different flooring, worktops, wheels, etc, to potential customers in its ‘configuration lounge’. It has also MoT facilities…

More info Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty arnsidesilverdaleaonb.org.uk RSPB Leighton Moss rspb.org.uk Morecambe Bay exploremorecambebay.org.uk Arnside Village arnsidevillage.co.uk For Cross Bay Walk events guideoversands.co.uk Does everyone have a local go-to campsite? One that is near to home, where you know what to expect when you roll up and there’s no need for time-consuming planning. We are lucky that only 30 minutes’ drive from our home and yet a world away is the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. With distinctive limestone crags, pretty villages and natural woodland, this fantastic area ticks many boxes for a relaxing short break at any time of year. It was November and I had a birthday to celebrate and, at the last minute, we booked a couple of nights at…

1 Mortonhall Caravan & Camping Park, Edinburgh 38 Mortonhall Gate, Frogston Road East EH16 6TJ 01316 641533 meadowhead.co.uk/parks/mortonhall All year With a regular bus service from the campsite into Edinburgh, Mortonhall is an ideal country estate location, within easy reach of the city. There are miles of walks around the estate, with Highland cattle in neighbouring fields. If you don’t mind a longer walk, it’s only four miles to the city centre, and the bus returns to the site until late. Pitches vary from basic grass to full service and there are toilets and showers on site, along with a licensed shop, bar and restaurant. As well as a capital city, Edinburgh is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a medieval Old Town and Georgian New Town. Head to the castle,…

We set off on a cloudy morning in our two-week-old Auto-Sleeper Symbol Plus, named Sybil, to explore the Western Isles, or Outer Hebrides, as they are also known, on a journey that would be over 2,000 miles, and in a brand-new campervan. Our first stop was at the Cumbria Centre Celebration Rally at Lowther Castle, Penrith, where the Caravan and Motorhome Club (C&MC) Concert Band, of which we are members, were to play. We had a very pleasant weekend there with our friends and moved on three days later to one of our favourite sites, at Englethwaite Hall (C&MC). This was mainly to charge our batteries – our own and Sybil’s! Next day saw us driving up past Carlisle and Glasgow, over the Clyde and up to Loch Lomond, where…