Full review

AT its NEC launch in 2009, the Alto motorhome set out to showcase something completely different – a fixed French bed, which folded up to allow storage of larger items via the opening back doors. Oh, and it’s in a van conversion.

As for that innovative folding bed... nobody really got the point of it, so come February 2010, the fold-up bed was no more, and suddenly the new buyers really caught on to Autocruise’s plucky innovation.

And it’s great. Prospective buyers who couldn’t see the point of a folding bed, could clearly see the point of a fixed bed – as sales success reflects.

Elsewhere in Autocruise’s van conversion range, the Pace packs in a fixed transverse double, while the Tempo, Jazz and Pulse each allow a longitudinal double to be constructed out of various seats and cushions, but only the Alto dares to squeeze such a bed into such limited confines.

Universally, the comment that this bed provoked on first sight was: ‘That looks narrow’. It isn’t; although it may look small, the bed matches (and even betters) French beds in some coachbuilts we’ve spent the night with.

The compromise for the French bed is that the washroom, which shares the rear end of the ’van is very compact.

The lack of window in this motorhome does little to lend any feeling of space. It’s not a dark room, it’s just small. But then it fits in a toilet with fold-up washbasin, mirrored medicine cabinet and a shower.

Water streams from the adjustable showerhead, and drains equally efficiently, but anyone taller or rounder than the average is sure to find things uncomfortable – not helped by the inevitable wheelarch intrusion, which sees to a quarter of the available floor space before you’ve even set foot inside.

For storage, chrome racks are fitted to the shower’s corner, there’s a deep plastic shelf above the basin, and a small mirror-fronted medicine cabinet – it’s just enough.

At the other end of the scale, there’s the Alto’s large kitchen area.

Sit on the end of the bed and you face a mirror that’s nailed onto the kitchen wall, behind a long stretch of worktop space; instead of looking out of the window while preparing food, stare at your own reflection.

Two mains power sockets are positioned next to this mirror, well out of the way of any running water, but too far from the dinette to be of much use to the front end of the ’van without an extension lead.

Along the worktop and you’ll find a two-burner hob that’s best used in conjunction with a barbecue, or the grill below, as catering for three potential occupants will stretch this facility. Moving along beyond the sink, there’s yet more worktop capacity in the form of a fold-up flap.

Storage in this area is as plentiful as workspace – two overhead lockers (with less than ideal magnetic catches) house a plate and cup rack, and a fold-out TV bracket with the necessary sockets.

There are two drawers under the grill, one deep cubbyhole below the mirror and two cupboards under the hob – each one with positive locking catches.

Opposite the kitchen area sits a tower of even more storage options: at the bottom is a good-sized wardrobe with hanging rail, in the middle is the 80-litre compressor fridge and at the top there’s a large locker.

On into the dinette, and two properly seatbelted travel seats give practical purpose to the forward-facing settee. This bench transforms into the Alto’s third berth, which is best kept for occasional use, or for children.

Lighting is plentiful here, as it is throughout the Alto, and the step up from living to cab floor level is neatly illuminated by a row of bright and modern LEDs.

A spotlight points down onto the dinette; this, along with three ceiling lights, and more windows and rooflights than you’d think would be possible in such a small ’van, keep everything bright and airy.

The table that lives in a recess above the cab slots onto a rail at a comfortable height between bench and cab seats, plenty big enough for two, and four at a stretch. The same table clips onto a similar rail on the back wall of the kitchen unit – great for al fresco dining, if the weather will play ball.

While that bed sits stubbornly fixed at the rear of the ’van, it doesn’t prevent the transportation of larger items – a folding bike or two will squeeze into the under-bed storage compartment.

Throw open those two rear doors and you’ll notice storage racks and toilet servicing behind the washroom wall.

Behind the wheel of the ubiquitous Sevel, you’d sometimes be forgiven for forgetting which variety of the van you’re driving.

Our demonstrator model is on a Peugeot, and had cruise control, air-conditioning and 15in alloys – on production models those things are optional extras, but your base will remain a Peugeot, unless you want the Comfort-Matic, in which case it will have to be Fiat. For this trip, the ride is smooth and the rattles from the back are minimal.

There’s no doubt that the Alto compares favourably with many coachbuilts with similar layouts. They will have a bigger washroom (possibly a separate shower), but still with a bed alongside that means one sleeper will have to mountaineer over the other for freedom.

But where a coachbuilt carries extra bulk and the accompanying impact on manoeuvrability, the Alto stands compact and practical, without compromising in such key areas as storage, kitchen equipment and build-quality.

A longer version of this review was published in the October 2010 issue of Which Motorhome magazine.