Full review

Like quite a few small conversion businesses, Rated Conversions thrives providing vehicles and converting them to customers’ specific requirements. This approach also lends itself to so-called ‘race homes’ – a moniker derived from vehicles used to transport the likes of racing motorcycles and all the kit needed to repair and maintain them once at the track. The people need to be looked after, too, of course, and so most of these are a combination of campervan and super-sized garage. Sort of a horsebox for horsepower rather than actual gee-gees.

Such a large garage space can have a multitude of uses and in the States they call ’vans (RVs) like this ‘toy haulers’. The idea is that bulky kit that enables you to enjoy your hobbies once on a campsite can be loaded on board, instead of sitting on a trailer. Anything from scuba diving gear to a quad bike or a boat might be transported.

And that’s the Jupiter’s métier as it features a really big garage lined with tough alloy chequerplate and lit by LED strip lamps. As well as ‘toy’ loading, accessed through the Sprinter’s wide-opening rear doors, there’s also person access from the living area. Jupiter packs the fresh water tank in here, too, and its big, 280-litre capacity gives an idea of the generous space the garage provides as it sits unobtrusively on the offside rear wheelarch.

Other features of the life support system include a 110Ah leisure battery, all-LED lighting and Truma’s well-loved Combi heater/boiler, running on gas and or mains electricity. Above the lounge, there’s a mains powered air-conditioning unit with remote control.

Over the garage there’s a fixed double bed that’s maybe not for the claustrophobic, but headroom looks OK and the fitted living area air-con should keep things cool on hot summer nights. Downstairs, the lounge’s side sofa joins forces with the – essential – twin rear travel seat to produce a second lengthways double bed.

Cheek-by-jowl with the garage on the nearside, the bathroom limits its talents to providing both loo and shower in a simple space that’s equipped with all-over wipe-clean surfaces. Accessing the swivel-bowl toilet’s cassette is always done in the dry as it’s extracted for emptying though a service hatch in the garage space (let’s hope not too much is loaded directly in front).

The kitchen follows current form for compact units with a lidded sink and flip-up working surface at its forward end. Cooking is by Thetford’s Triplex stove – a half-height unit that provides a great compromise between providing an oven/grill while not robbing too much precious storage space. The 12V fridge is located nicely out of the way at the front end of the galley unit.

Further forward, swivelling cab seats make the cab part of the living area and help to accommodate up to seven people, along with the side bench and rear travel seat. Meals are taken from a pedestal-leg table that slots into a floor socket in the lounge.

Last but by no means least is the base vehicle. Mercedes’ Sprinter (the old-shape one here, of course) benefits from high-quality engineering, a supple ride and the rear-wheel drive that also makes it great for towing a trailer or even, dare I say it, a caravan. And should you travel far and wide, it’s comforting to know that Merc commercial vehicle workshops are open 24/7.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read loads more like it in What Motorhome magazine. You can get a digital version of this latest issue of What Motorhome magazine here.