Full review

Serrano slots in between its predecessors – the 7.50m Mohawk and 8.73m Chieftain – so it’s a big motorhome, weighing in at four-and-a-half tonnes gross and a tad over eight metres long. That’s over 26 feet in old money. And, talking of money, this is no cheapy: a starting price set at a rather spicy £67k means Serrano will have to face up against some less expensive competition. Like its Frontier siblings, Serrano looks every centimetre the classic Auto-Trail, but things have been changed, both outside and in.

Claimed to be new, the overcab design has, to my eyes, merely been tweaked, while the Serrano rump looks very different – with a new rear panel and spare wheel housing that are as angular as the old was curved. LED tail-lights complete the modern form with equally modern function.

The layout provides few, if any, surprises, with twin sofas up front, a centre kitchen, then the bathroom – all married to the reason-to-buy bedroom in the extreme rear. The whole sits on an Al-Ko chassis and the Fiat base comes with the 150bhp Euro VI engine as standard.

There’s plenty of natural light from a long sunroof above, while the timber bulkhead ’twixt lounge and cab has been pruned, making for a much more spacious feel at higher level.

In the lounge, the sofas are long: we’re talking 4ft 6in for the longest (and the other one is not too far behind). You’ll find this fixed bed layout in other ’vans - mostly continentals - but you’ll be very hard pressed to find a lounge this generously comfortable. Meals are taken from a sensible free-standing table, which has a dedicated stowage locker, and the sofas pull together to make a giant double bed without any pesky infill cushions.

The kitchen is British – L-shaped, full cooker, microwave, sink with drainer and 175-litre fridge. The bedroom should be a joy as it comes with loads of headroom and space to sit up in bed, a large night table/chest of drawers, a wardrobe and an en suite with nicely designed separate shower and decent toilet room.

All that headroom is due to the fact that the locker beneath is not a bike-swallowing garage. It’s big and has good access from outside and in, but it’s not tall enough for cycles to be loaded upright.

Finally, nowhere is Serrano more impressive than in the lighting department: LED reading lamps and downlighters abound, as does mood lighting – even extending under the edge of the kitchen worktops where it helps with seeing into drawers and cupboards.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read the full version and more in the November 2016 issue of What Motorhome magazine. You can get a digital version of this latest issue of What Motorhome magazine here.