Full review

Words: Val Chapman  Photography: Richard Chapman

The Swift Conqueror 560

Conqueror has been a stalwart of Swift’s ranges for generations. Always at the forefront of style, always delivering on quality, the Conqueror is a reliable, predictable, premium range. But does that predictability imply just a little boring? Well, maybe it did attract that comment in the past, with restrained style that was arguably a little beige.

But not now. The Conqueror range returned for 2022 after an absence of two years with models that exude style and sophistication. The range has its own strong identity – and is definitely not overshadowed by its higher-spec Elegance cousin.

Bold, dark browns teamed with creams and high-gloss finishes, upholstered panels bordering the side windows, and clever use of light and dark to create stunning interior design, make today’s Conquerors outstanding tourers. There are four models, all on single axles, all standard width (2.28m), all with Alde heating and 30-litre on-board water tanks; the two-berth 480, at £31,495 and three four-berths, all £34,795. These models give buyers the choice of twin beds or an island bed, either aligned across the caravan (the 580) or at the rear; that’s our review 560.

If you fancy a caravan that has two entirely separate rooms, the 560 is one for your shortlist. It’s one of several manufacturers’ layouts that gives you single-axle caravans with a rear bedroom and central shower room that can be completely closed off from the day area. The Swift Group has five spanning its price and luxury-level spectrum. The Erwin Hymer Group has five, Coachman has two and Adria also has two. So, at various price and spec levels, there is a lot of choice in two-room layouts.

What, then, makes the Conqueror two-room caravan stand out from the crowd? We came to Leisure Sales, in Cheshire, and explored the 560, in pride of place within the indoor display area, to find out.

The interior

The 560 is stacked with refinements. There are graduating dimmer switches in the lounge and the bedroom; two foot-level lights in the bedroom; plenty of USB ports and sockets; a shower rose with a button so that, once you have set the temperature, it retains that setting when you turn it off and on again; coat hooks by the door; an extractor fan – and a superb combination of tactile and light-reflective fabrics. And, if you choose to remove the carpet, you’ll find that the high-quality, oak-effect floor covering is really attractive, with a visible grain and a natural look.

The lounge

The new Conqueror’s lounge styling is outstanding, using dark brown to run all of the way under and around the lockers and underneath the sunroof. Dark brown is also used for the lower lockers, and for a panel beside the door, alongside a white panel on which a mirror is mounted. The top sections of the lockers are gloss white and the lower areas are matt, with the junction between the two defined by a slim, pale gold-coloured border. Six cushions, four in grey velvety suede material and two bolster-style cushions in light-reflective cream fabric, add to the cosiness.

The ambience of the lounge is superb, and delightfully plush. The pale grey, velvety suede-effect (matching the cushion fabric) panelling on the side walls is one of the lounge’s luxurious elements. Another is the stunning vertical light bar in each corner; light from the LEDs within the bars reflects from dots contained in the plastic tubes, giving a warm glow – and creating a beautiful design feature. Instead of curtains, the side windows are bordered by upholstered panels matching those in the bedroom.

The fabric pattern – matching that of the curtains across the front – consists of irregular geometric shapes outlined in a sawtooth design in white and grey.

The kitchen

The light and dark style theme mixes well with practicality in the kitchen. With the extension hinged up, and the hob top down, the kitchen length is 1.63m. The double-doored cabinet contains two separate areas, one 37cm wide with two shelf spaces, and the other with two pull-out, metal basket-style shelves, 23cm wide and 48cm deep, with space beneath them.

The drawer above this cabinet is huge, at 74cm wide and 45cm deep; the large, four-recess cutlery drawer occupies half of the drawer space. Above, 34cm-wide cupboards flank the microwave. One contains two mug racks and the other a plate rack. Lockers are above and below the slimline Dometic fridge/freezer that has a 133-litre capacity including the 12-litre freezer compartment.

The washroom

The shower area is a self-contained room – with three doors. One opens to the kitchen, and there are two to open into the bedroom; that’s one on each side of the washbasin. Another of the 560’s refinements is here; the shower rose is mounted in a black base that sweeps all of the way up from the tap area into the ceiling, crowned by a coronet of bright LED lights – nice! Two shelves can be found beside the tap.

Cabinet space is fine, with one (40cm by 24cm) below the basin, and another (84cm wide) on the offside wall. Two shelves run beneath this cabinet. Altogether we think washroom storage provision is sufficient. But floor space, being only 53cm between the basin cabinet and the forward door, may be considered a little confined by some people.

Our cameraman, 6ft and of rugby player build, for example, discovered that he is a tad too large to move around this area with ease. With the shower door closed, the space between the bedroom and the shower room may be considered tight; the floor space is only 22cm and the space between the shower door and the basin is only 24cm.

The bed area

The bed is 1.9m long, which is just over 6ft. The foot of the bed is against the wall that divides the bedroom from the shower room, meaning that your feet can’t overhang. This problem is not unique to the 560, of course; we have found bed length an issue in several caravans of this layout. No problem unless you are tall.

The wardrobes both have 37cm of hanging width. The nearside wardrobe contains the table, which takes a few centimetres off the hanging space. The limited floor space between the shower and the basin means that carrying the table from the wardrobe to the lounge is awkward without risk of the table making contact with the basin or the shower frame.

Fortunately, though, the centre-front pull-out table gives you a surface 61cm by 66cm, and when you add in the depth of the windowsill (33cm), you have a table that’s more than adequate for meals for two.

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