Full review

When is an island bed not an island bed? Perhaps, when it’s not exactly a French bed, either. But then the French call an island bed a ‘central bed’, and this one’s not in the middle of the motorhome…

Here, in the latest addition to Florium’s Wincester (no, not Winchester – don’t get us side-tracked on that one) the bed is mounted much closer to the UK offside than the nearside. But it’s not touching the wall, as in a French bed layout, so there’s still some access down the side. And, on the nearside, the usual corner wardrobe’s position has been taken up by the toilet room – again, blurring the distinction between a French bed and an island.

Except that here you might just have the best of both worlds – access to your mattress is almost as good as the latter but overall length of the motorhome (6.59m) is more akin to the former. This bedroom has some good details, too, such as a concertina screen to turn the rear of the ’van into a private en suite, deep internal storage under the foot of the bed and a useful bedside shelf for specs, a glass of water, etc. The mattress itself measures 1.88m by 1.32m, which means it’s slimmer than you’d expect, so hopefully potential buyers will be, too.

There’s no shortage of space in the toilet area, though, which also features a drop-down basin of XL-sized surface area but rather shallow depth. Perhaps the French wash differently to us? Or, maybe, the focus is instead on the separate shower at the foot of the bed. This looks more domestic in style. Under-bed storage is also better than you’d anticipate, but the internal layout means that loading is only possible from the offside and the almost-a-garage locker stretches 1.48m across, rather than right to the other side.

While we’re on the outside, it’s worth commenting on the colour of the body – think finest Devon clotted cream – as well as the new-for-2018 cab door with two-point locking and ground light. But the most pleasing part is, perhaps, the rounded, almost retro, shape – a nice contrast to the sometimes brick-like German opposition.

While the 65 LMC looks unusually compact on the outside, the first impression as you step through the door is of a good feeling of space. You enter straight into an open-plan lounge with plenty of daylight flooding in via the A-class windscreen, window in the door and the Heki sunroof (oddly a cheap push-up type) above.

There’s an L-settee as well as the two swivel captain’s chairs and a flip-up jump seat across the doorway. Smart LED lighting is incorporated in the entrance and under the cab’s drop-down bed, while Focal speakers are integrated into the top of the dashboard.

Finally, there’s a galley that beats even the exterior for curves, while also featuring a Baraldi extractor hood, large drawers, a 149-litre fridge/freezer, a serving shelf between kitchen and sofa and a neat, eye-level pull-out unit to house your tinned foods. It’s not a big space but it is unusually styled and well-thought-out, which just about sums up this £75k A-class.

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.