Full review

Our first look at the C-tourer reveals a rather stylish exterior appearance and an interior that provides a warm and welcoming feel. Twin single beds are at the heart of the new 144 LE model. Forward of the beds – garage beneath – the layout is pretty much conventional, with en suite bathroom, L-shaped kitchen and Euro-style lounge with swivelling cab seats below the traditional A-class drop-down double bed. Down below and behind, the double floor is deep enough to include stowage space, and the garage is large.

The extras list is long and this one had plenty of them fitted in the cab. The only standard-fit items are ESP, traction control and a passenger airbag. Of all the options fitted, one of the most useful and impressive was the tail-mounted camera. Set up as a rear view system, so activated as soon as the ignition is switched on, it featured a very bright and clear picture. You can have it with the Media Package, which also includes a 22-inch TV and a Double-DIN stereo in the cab. Another £2,300 gets an automatic satellite system, which (even for me) proved easy to use.

The test motorhome was fitted with the Ancona design of upholstery, which features excellent faux leather that’s very realistic. Furniture in Style World Epic finish adds both cost and more chrome-trimmed ivory-coloured locker doors but, at £900, it’s something I might leave unticked on the order form. It did look nice, though. A ‘compact L-shape’ provides this lounge’s description and we soon proved that it was possible to easily seat four or five in comfort, six at a pinch. The multi-adjustable table also provided plenty of surface for sensible eating.

Kitchen work surface? As expected, there’s not much. That’s no surprise as this motorhome is less than seven metres long and, with space-stealing single beds in the rear, something’s gotta give. However, things aren’t too bad as there’s a drop-in, divided lid for the sink and a slot just above accepts one half, converting it into a handy shelf.  Then there’s the usual glass lid over the hob – here, divided to make it a tad more versatile as a working surface. Four nice drawers, plus a hatch in the floor opens to reveal a deep space which will easily take store cupboard items and extra pots and pans. And it’s heated. Wine cellar? Could be. Above, two lockers provide space that’s probably best for tea and coffee kit.

There’s a low-set oven/grill and the hob is a stylish three-burner affair, named Profi Gourmet. One of Dometic’s finest single-door models sports Auto Energy Selection and 138 litres of volume, so plenty of room for beer and other essentials. All in all, and given the limits of the design and size, this kitchen scores quite well, with usable equipment and plenty of well-designed stowage space.

Nearside bed length is impressive at two metres. The offside single does well, too, at 1.90 metres. The width of both is good and they’re easily approached by the usual set of stairs (providing some useful lidded stowage) and flanked each side by roomy under-bed wardrobes. Thanks to some innovative design, the nearside bed gets to be long enough for minor league basketball players because it extends into the shower compartment. Come douche-time, a firm shove sees the bed base slide aft, the mattress’ head rising to make room. The shower, then, is roomy, has two drains, a roof vent, drying rail and lighting.

One big reason to buy an A-class is the fact that there’s a double bed in the cab ready for instant use. This one is excellent. At nearly 6ft 6in long and more than 5ft wide, this bed is one of the biggest around and there’s plenty of sitting-up headroom, too. In the rear, a gap-filling pull-out section and infill cushion convert the singles into a giant double and, as the access steps are now covered, a ladder is needed to get into bed. This is a common solution, but here it’s neater as the access ladder simply slides out and hinges down, ready for use.

The garage comes with two doors, large on the offside, smaller on the nearside. At 1.04m high, the main door aperture is tall enough to take bikes or a scooter and the insides are cavernous. Lighting and tie-down rails are included and there’s easy access to the electrical distribution centre – battery charger, circuit breakers and the like. Back inside, the lounge plays host to another deep in-floor storage locker and, just inside the habitation door, a large and useful cupboard – plenty of shoes would fit in here. So there’s lots of stowage and all of it (including the inboard water tanks) is heated, so this is a genuinely winterised motorhome.

Designed and built to be lightweight, the 3.5-tonne 144 boasts a reasonable 425kg of payload. Very sensibly, Carthago quotes the weight of all the extras offered and, on the test ’van, that amounted to more than 200kg. Chassis upgrades are possible (3,850kg and 4,250kg) to solve the problem, but check you are licenced to drive a vehicle that weighs more than 3,500kg.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read the full version and more in the February 2017 issue of What Motorhome magazine.

You can get a digital version of this latest issue of What Motorhome magazine here.