Full review

CI has pulled off something of a coup with its latest Mizar GTL Living (first launched back in 2004), in that it's one of the few overcab coachbuilts to look inherently right on the new X2/50 Fiat Ducato base.

The secret to the Living's success lies in the subtle design of its luton moulding. Where many designs can look a little awkward and square - and therefore at odds with the svelte new Ducato shape - the Mizar's overcab looks smooth and aerodynamic, and not unlike one of those futuristic simulators you see in central London's Barbican Centre, in fact.
Of the three Mizars currently available, the GTL Living is the most intriguing, taking as its does the standard GTL's stacked offside rear bunks (which can be converted into a small garage via the opening lower door/window) and L-shaped kitchen, but replacing the GTL's half-dinette/inward-facing settee lounge arrangement with an L-shaped nearside settee and a slightly larger offside settee.

It's an intriguing combination that works extremely well, although one potential buyer I spoke to was concerned that access to the corner washroom might be compromised with the bunk ladder in position.

I in turn remained less than convinced by the bizarre scratched-look surfaces in the kitchen and on the 150-litre AES stack fridge/freezer.

And I failed to see the point of the three individual Smev hob burners (each of which has its own gas cock and piezo ignition) - this latter in particular seems to do little more than take up more valuable worktop space than a standard unitary Smev three-burner hob.

Matters improve apace in the lounge, however, where you're presented with what must have rated as one of the most welcoming and sociable lounges at the show. This is achieved in no small part by the aforementioned luton cab roof which, as one onlooker was heard to opine, looked rather like the vaulted ceiling in St Peter's Basilica in Rome!

It's the seating arrangement that really sets the GTL Living apart, though: the nearside L-shaped settee looks custom-made for lazy Sunday mornings with the newspapers and a coffee, while the neat little settee opposite is well served by a large window and two reading lights. As you'd expect, the cab seats swivel fully, too, which, together with the fixed table that slides here, there and everywhere, creates one of the friendliest lounges I think I've ever seen in a motorhome.

Ci Mizar GTL Living

• Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato 40 Heavy LWB
• Price from: £39,995 on-the-road
• Length: 7.28m (23ft 10.5in)
• Width: 2.31m (7ft 7in)
• Height: 3.22m (10ft 7in)
• Gross vehicle weight: 4,000kg
• Payload: N/A
• Berths: 4
• Travel seats: 4, including driver