Etrusco A 6.9 SB motorhome

Etrusco adds a single bed floorplan to its family-friendly overcab range

Etrusco is an entry-level Italian brand, part of the Erwin Hymer Group. It has offered overcab coachbuilts for a while but has redesigned the range for the coming year, with the addition of two brand-new models. There’s a thoroughly conventional layout with a pullman dinette and transverse double bed at the rear (the A 6.9 DB), plus this A 6.9 SB with a more unusual format for an overcab motorhome.

We previewed the Iconic Line Edition, which adds an extra specification package. The standard model has a black unpainted bumper and 15in steel wheels, but we’d expect most models destined for the UK to have the option pack fitted as it includes a colour-coded bumper and 16in alloys. The exception might be motorhomes acquired for rental fleets.

Overcab coachbuilt

Overcab motorhomes are relatively rare beasts these days and this 7m motorhome has a layout more typically found as a low-profile. It features twin single beds at the back (over a garage), with a half-dinette up front. The benefit of the overcab body is that the second double doesn’t eat into the lounge area, unlike a low-profile’s drop-down berth. However, at over 3m tall, expect poorer MPG and higher tolls on French autoroutes.

Four or five berths

That lounge has a forward-facing bench and a small side seat next to the door. It’s a four-berth as standard but there’s a kit to make the lounge seats into a fifth berth, if required. However, this model only has seatbelts for four – you’d only specify the lounge bed if occupants three and four don’t want to share the same sleeping space.

Kitchen with big fridge, good washroom

There’s a small kitchen in the centre of the vehicle, fitted with a two-burner hob and an integral sink, plus a little bit of worktop, because the counter has an angled section. There’s lots of storage below, but some of that will be taken up by the addition of an oven for the UK market. One of the USPs of this model is the tall fridge/freezer, with 135-litre total capacity. Top lockers provide more cupboard space in the lounge and kitchen – in the galley there’s a neat divider that makes storage of smaller items easier.

Opposite, the washroom is a good size. It has a swing-wall to make a decent shower cubicle with twin drain holes. It’s also got lots of storage. The toilet does swivel, but a bench cassette might have worked better in this space.

Long single beds

At the rear there are twin single beds that are quoted as being 2.07m and 2m long. However, there are cupboards across the back wall, which will make sitting up in bed with a book or your morning coffee much more difficult. There’s a window on either side and a rooflight. UK models also come with the kit to turn the beds into a double – just pull out the central unit and add an infill cushion. Access is via a couple of steps, but the top one is not very high and some may have to hop a bit further into the bed. There’s storage under both beds at the foot, with a wardrobe on one side.

Garage & spec

Of course, there’s a garage, too, with a 95cm by 110cm door on the offside, and an optional 75cm by 80cm hatch on the nearside.

UK models come with cab blinds instead of a curtain, the gas/electric 6kW Truma Combi, an oven and the Multimedia Package Compact.

This model has a 3.5-tonne maximum weight, so anyone with a car licence can get behind the wheel, but, if you have a C1 category, you can upgrade to 3,650kg to provide more payload.

If you want an overcab these days, then there isn’t a massive choice, and ones with single beds at this price and size are even fewer and further between. And it is those beds that are the real USP of this entry-level model. Just watch that options don’t eat into your budget or payload if you are limited to 3.5-tonne vehicles.