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2024 Campervan Awards category: Best Pop-Top Campervan
Welcome to the Campervan Awards 2024 award for the Best Pop-Top Campervan. This category is part of the Campervan Awards 2024 by Campervan magazine.
Sticking with Transporter-sized campers, we’ll take a look at the excellent Renault, Ford and other bases to pick our winner.
In association with leading consumer finance provider, Creation.
WINNER – Best Pop-Top Campervan 2024
Ford Nugget
(Photos courtesy of Ford)
Why the Ford Nugget?
The Nugget has been a big part of the German campervan scene for almost four decades. Here, it is much less well established (only having gone on sale through official Transit Centres in 2020), but the fact that Ford introduced a right-hand drive version to compete with campervans from Volkswagen (California) and Mercedes-Benz (Marco Polo) shows how important this sector has become.
So, while a large number of converters now build on the Transit Custom, the Nugget is Ford’s own product, built by one of the most highly respected firms in the business, Westfalia. And now there is a new Nugget, based on an all-new generation of Ford van.
In fact, that is to undersell the base vehicle here, because it’s not a Transit Custom that forms the basis of the new Nugget but the Tourneo Custom, the plusher people-carrier version.
Take your place behind the (slightly squared off) steering wheel and any preconceptions of what a Transit might be like are blown to smithereens. The instrumentation is fully digital and the central touchscreen is huge, at 13in, while the move to a switch for the parking brake makes for easier seat swivelling.
What is inside?
Right-hand drive versions of the Nugget also feature twin sliding doors – a feature that we welcomed on the outgoing model, adding versatility in daily use (especially as the Nugget also has the advantage of belted back seats for three). The rear bench is also now heated (talk about luxury!) and a heated seat means that it’s a heated bed, too!
The upgraded kitchen is at the back and that means the pop-top is front-hinged, too, but it now folds more easily and a 350W solar panel can be fitted on the lid. Habitation area features can now be controlled from a new touchscreen, or from your phone.
The first new Custom camper will be a hard act to beat.
Specifications
Price from:
Estimated £80,000
Base vehicle:
Ford Tourneo Custom
Berths:
4
Travel seats:
5
Length:
5.05m
Width:
2.28m (inc mirrors)
Height:
2.06m
Gross weight:
3,200kg
Payload:
TBC
Highly commended
(Photos courtesy of Warners Group Publications)
Adria Active Duo
Here’s an interesting new campervan that fills a niche between barely-a-camper models like the VW California Beach and those with comprehensive side kitchen layouts.
It has a compact galley which allows the Active Duo to have twin sliding doors, so you get safe and convenient access to the sliding rear seat wherever you’re parked. In a vehicle that’s likely to be a daily driver that’s worth a lot.
If you live in a city, or anywhere with height barriers, you’ll also be grateful for the little Adria’s sub-2m overall height. There’s plenty more to applaud here, too, from the ease of bed-making to the fridge that can be reached from outside.
Specifications
Price from:
£62,795
Base vehicle:
Renault Trafic
Berths:
4
Travel seats:
4
Length:
4.99m
Width:
1.96m
Height:
1.99m (with Comfort Pack)
Gross weight:
3,010kg
Payload:
623kg
(Photos courtesy of Warners Group Publications)
CMC HemBil Tour-CL
Based on the long-wheelbase Extra Sport version of the Renault Trafic, the Tour-CL comes with a list of standard spec in the cab that would shame many competitors.
But it’s not here for that reason, nor for the fact the CMC always builds its campers to a very high standard, using only the best components.
The Tour-CL is here because it offers a completely different layout to the side kitchen norm and does so with aplomb. For a start, its twin sliding doors make it a great daily driver, while the Reimo rear seats are much more comfortably shaped than the RIB chairs often seen in rivals. They make into a pair of single beds really easily, too.
At the back, the kitchen is impressive for a campervan of this size, with plenty of worktop and a Dometic grill as standard (or a microwave or gas oven as options). There’s loads of storage, too, in the tall furniture opposite.
That the offside also incorporates a cassette toilet and a folding privacy door will be the icing on the cake for Tour-CL buyers.
Specifications
Price from:
£69,950
Base vehicle:
Renault Trafic
Berths:
4
Travel seats:
4
Length:
5.48m
Width:
1.96m
Height:
2.05m
Gross weight:
3,070kg
Payload:
500kg
Finished reading?
Return to our Campervan Awards 2024 main page to see all the Campervan Awards categories and the results, including the winners and highly commended runners-up.
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