Full review

It’s the distinctive and curvy rear panel that marks out Optima Premium from its £1,000 more lowly Deluxe brethren – and it looks very classy indeed. All Optimas are low-profile coachbuilts and the range contains the usual continental suspects layout-wise – French double, twin singles, transverse double or island double – measuring from six metres up to 7.65m.

Unsurprisingly, it’s the Fiat Ducato that provides underpinnings and motivation, mounted on the Camper version of Fiat’s chassis, which is lower than the standard item (and, therefore, more stable on the road). The T65 HGQ is just 60mm over seven metres long (the Deluxe version is 100mm less) and houses an island double bed in the rear, above a slim garage. Up front, cab seats turn to face a half-dinette (with twin belts and new-for-2018 Isofix child seat attachment points).

Across the aisle there’s a single side seat that completes accommodation for six. That’s six for drinks, but dining in comfort for four: the pedestal-mounted table is a very good size, but not big enough for more at main mealtimes. Come bedtime and the tabletop descends, you flatten the backrest cushions and a transverse double bed pulls down from above – thus, the extra berths that make this a motorhome that sleeps four. If you don’t need the drop-down bed then the T65 GQ (no ‘H’) is the same ’van without it – priced at a grand less.

The kitchen includes a fridge that hides 140 litres of volume behind its big, shiny black door. This is the popular, tall and slim (Slim Tower) type that makes great use of space and, in fact, the design was originally commissioned by Hobby who then had dibs on the new product for the first two years of its life. Nowadays, they’re found in many other ’vans.

Across the way, all is conventional with an L-shaped main unit doing duty and housing good drawer space and large cupboards, both above and below. Cooking is on a three-burners-in-line hob. This is one of the few models in the range with no oven, but a whole host of other kit is added for the UK which our continental cousins have to pay extra for. Think sat-nav, reversing camera, a heated waste water tank, extra interior lighting, ESP and Traction+, cab blinds, a Thule awning, alloy wheels, habitation door flyscreen and more. There’s £14k-worth of kit in the All-Inclusive Package of UK models, says Hobby.

As with many rivals, the bathing facilities stand either side of the aisle, toilet/washroom on the right, separate shower opposite. Usually, the washroom door swings open to block the aisle and create an en suite to the bedroom and the same’s true here, but with a brand-new design.

There’s a common problem to be addressed here and that’s the fact that anyone up front must enter the bedroom to use the loo. In this Hobby, though, the washroom door swings across from the aisle, exposing an inner tambour door that slides aside to close a second entrance leading to the bedroom. Estate agents would call this a ‘Jack and Jill’ bathroom and it allows people sleeping up front to use the loo in private and without disturbing the rear sleepers. Very neat.

The rear bed is pretty conventional, with his-and-hers wardrobes and night tables on both sides, plus good headroom for sitting up. Externally, a tall door at the rear on each side leads to a variable-volume space, thanks to the fact that the bed can (optionally – £695 extra) be adjusted – wound up higher to transform a large locker into a slim, bike-accommodating garage. Payload is quite limited on the 3.5-tonne chassis, though.