Full review

RUMOURS of the death of the Great British Twin Axle Caravan are, it would appear, greatly exaggerated.

Despite persistent rumblings from certain quarters, big four-wheelers persist in featuring in just about every manufacturer’s portfolio, so the market for these behemoths is clearly as strong as it ever was.

For sheer living space, though, big twins are hard to beat, and few manufacturers know this better than Fleetwood.

The new boy for 2007 is the 640-I tested here.

From the rear sliding doors forward, it’s pretty much the same as the 640-ES triplets, meaning it shares with them a standard parallel lounge, offside kitchen, nearside stack fridge-freezer, full-height wardrobe and microwave oven and a washroom over the rearmost axle that comprises an offside toilet/washroom and a separate stand-alone shower cubicle opposite.



It weighs the same, looks the same, measures the same and even has the same size beds: a 6ft 6in by 6ft double, or a pair of 6ft by 2ft 2in singles.

The clue to the 640-I’s unique selling point, in fact, lies within its name: in this instance, ‘I’ stands for ‘island’.

Where the ES(D) sports a transverse double bed slung way out back that stretches the tape measure to a whopping 6ft 6in by 4ft 6in, the 640-I’s bed, which is also transversely mounted, sacrifices exactly six inches of mattress size both lengthways and widthways in order to open up 180-degree walkway space, just like in a domestic bedroom.

Whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on your priorities. If either you or your other half is tall then a 6ft-long bed probably isn’t going to be long enough.

Quite apart from anything else, the 640-I’s bedroom really feels like a proper bedroom, with its his ‘n’ hers bedside tables, reading lights and roof lockers, together with a proper padded headboard and a pair of large, daylight-grabbing windows, not to mention a small vanity table and mirror, and somewhere to put your TV.

Moving back into the main body of the caravan, you step through into Fleetwood’s trademark swing-door washroom. This ingenious design seems to offer the best of all worlds.

In standard, daytime guise, the washroom is simply split into two, with the shower on the nearside, and the small room with the toilet and washbasin opposite. It means this latter feels quite cramped, but also keeps the passageway through into the kitchen clear.

Should you wish it, however, you can swing a central partition into place, effectively rendering the washroom full-width and separate, but with access from the main body of the caravan still possible.

Better still, if you’ve got guests sleeping up front, you can make the washroom en-suite to the end bedroom. It’s a devilishly clever design.

Closer to the front of the caravan is the offside kitchen, whose meagre worktop provision is boosted by the presence of a lounge-side extension flap and a lift-out plastic drainer.



You’ll find little to complain about in the lounge, where sumptuous - if surprisingly low-backed - wraparound settees combine with the warm woodwork, classy and abundant lighting and modern touches such as the satellite TV sockets and twin speakers to create a whole that’s pleasingly luxurious.

Our verdict:

It’s hard not to fall for the many and varied charms Fleetwood’s new big boy has in abundance: it looks terrific from the outside, thanks to Fleetwood’s (entirely sensible) decision to retain the classic ‘droop snoot’ look and smarten things up with those fantastic black anodised alloy wheels, and equally so inside, where only the framed locker doors, flimsy-feeling washroom door and low-backed settees detract from a whole that is otherwise impressively luxurious and modern.

Specification:

Price: £20,995
Berths: 4
Warranty: Five years anti-water ingress and delamination
MRO: 27.95cwt (1420kg)
MTPLM: 33.46cwt (1700kg)
Internal length: 20ft 10in (6.35m)
Overall length: 26ft 3in (8m)
Internal height: 6ft 4in (1.94m)
Overall width: 7ft 3in (2.21m)
Overall height: 8ft 11in (2.72m)

•    A full version of this review appeared in the December 2006 issue of Which Caravan. To order a road test reprint contact Tina Beaumont on 01778 391187.

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