Full review

The Danbury Active is a long-established model in the Bristol-based campervan converter’s repertoire. It is the rear kitchen (and toilet) layout alternative to the brand’s best-selling Surf, which has the typical side kitchen/rear bench format, and it’s easy to spot which is which as the Active’s elevating roof rises from the rear.

The Choice version (also offered on other Danbury models on the Volkswagen Transporter T6), however, is new for the 2020 season and was launched at October 2019's Motorhome & Caravan Show at the NEC. Its theme is a higher standard specification and a look that can be personalised to individual customers’ wishes – hence the name ‘Choice’.

So, your, erm, choices start with three designs of Wolfrace Eurosport alloy wheels, all 18in in diameter and weight-rated for commercial vehicles such as the Transporter. The elevating roof can be ordered in one of three colours, with its canvas in pale grey, red or blue (here neatly matching the metallic blue base vehicle).

The colour scheme options continue on the inside, where leather upholstery is standard but you can select grey with blue stitching, red with black or black with red.

Then there’s the furniture, which can be finished in Couture Wood (as shown here), Vogue Wood (a dark grey) or Oiled Olivewood, all machined in-house at Danbury in its CNC facility. Flooring, again, comes in three shades of hard-wearing Jaxon vinyl – Dark, Medium or Light. None of these choices alters the list price of £58,495.

Included in that figure is a 101bhp (102PS) 2-litre TDI engine with five-speed manual gearbox, while the usual VW upgrades are available at extra cost. You won’t pay more, though, for the colour-coded bumpers, front and rear spoilers, lowered suspension, chrome side bars, roll-out canopy awning or side privacy glass. The overall look is certainly more bling, more sporty than your average T5 or T6 campervan.

Choice spec also includes cab seat armrests, a leather steering wheel, cab air-conditioning, cruise control, reversing camera, Bluetooth rear speakers, an alarm and tracker, cab carpet and a solar panel.

The layout features four individual seats (the rears to Danbury’s own design), which form twin single beds. These are equal in width (0.56m) but the nearside one (1.86m) is longer than the offside (1.79m).

Small wedge-shaped infills level the slope of the cab seats (where your feet rest), while you sleep on the (flat) reverse side of the back seats so that you’re not kipping on a leather bed. The leisure battery is located under the nearside seat but its opposite number is free to house your bedding in the day.

The table and leg store neatly in the side wall, alongside the offside rear seat, but, if you’re planning on carrying rear passengers, note that there are no rear headrests here and the squab cushions are quite long.

The compact rear kitchen includes a rather old-fashioned LP Tasman hob but those not worried by its looks will be pleased to see the grill below. There’s also a square sink, a 45-litre compressor fridge, two small drawers and a small slide-out worktop.

The main reason to buy an Active will be its fitted cassette toilet that’s incorporated in the rear, along with a slide-out partition behind the offside rear seat to provide a semi-private area. When not being used, the Thetford toilet is covered by a cushion that turns it into a useful cook’s seat.