Full review

There has been some restructuring of the Swift motorhome line-up this year, with the Autocruise name disappearing and Bessacarr becoming simply a range, rather than a brand within a brand. Every motorhome and campervan is now a Swift, but the 2018 Swift Bessacarrs also move upmarket and take the place of Bolero (another casualty).

The Bessacarr line-up is now all-encompassing. Its 10 models range from 5.99m to 8.11m, from two berths to six, and there are four brand-new floorplans, too, including this 599, the sole island bed model.

The 599 Lounge is a two-person ’van with twin side-facing sofas in the classic British format, whereas what we have here is the suffixless 599 with a more European-style half-dinette and four-person capability. As such, it is on a 3,850kg chassis, but the benefit is that payload rises north of 500kg, even with a couple of factory options.

Because the 599 feels so stable (thank the low-line Al-Ko chassis for that), and the rear view camera gives a constant display on the interior-mirror-replacing screen, it’s easy to forget just how big a motorhome you’re driving. Until you come to manoeuvre it, or park it.

The Lux Pack adds air-con, cruise control and a TV aerial to a kit list that already includes a DAB radio with Bluetooth and steering-wheel-mounted controls, central locking (including the habitation door), alloy wheels and LED daytime running lights. The omission of sat-nav is no big deal, but the lack of safety-enhancing ESP is disappointing and a leather steering wheel would be nice on a £60,000 motorhome.

At 640mm high and 890mm wide, the rear hatch is a useful space, especially as it is heated and illuminated. We did find that the shiny floor encourages contents to slide around, though. Smaller items might be better placed in the new slide-out skirt locker, but this is only 150mm deep and, although it is lidded, it attracts a lot of road dirt.

Step inside, though, and the Bessacarr has plenty of luxury design cues, from speakers over the lounge and in the bedroom to pleated blinds at every window, and from gloss wood and Oyster Grey cabinets to the impressive array of interior illumination.

After engine, gearbox and Lux Pack options, the only decision remaining concerns the seat fabric. The one shown is the standard trim, while SwiftShield is a stain-resistant suede-like, or there’s leather. Whether daytime or evening, there’s plenty of light in the lounge (and throughout – there’s even a roof vent in the potentially dark kitchen aisle) and the overcab sunroof is joined by a large Heki rooflight behind. But the best feature when living aboard the Bessacarr in winter is the Alde heating. The Alde’s easy-to-use controls are mounted over the door, where you’ll also find the switches to remotely drain the water tanks, and the Swift control panel. This not only includes all the usual features but the fridge settings, too. And the Swift Command app enables you to control the lighting, fridge, etc, from your phone.

The L-shaped galley has an extractor fan in the roof vent, a cooker with mains hotplate and separate grill and oven (and a surprising dearth of rattles), a fitted microwave, a backlit splashback, a sink with removable drainer and chopping board cover, cup and plate racks, two mains sockets and soft-closing doors – plus a tall, slim fridge (opposite), Fenix scratch-resistant worktops and the neat little corner shelf alongside the power points. But, the predictable negative is limited storage. The cutlery drawer is too small for kitchen knives and there’s very limited space for non-perishable.

Of course, you expect an island bed to give you a good night’s kip, but the Duvalay mattress here really is exceptionally comfy. And, better still, you can choose between a 1.83m  double with an unusually generous changing area at the foot, or add an infill cushion at the head end and stretch out on a full two-metre-long bed – still with enough room to get around it and access the ablutions.

There are the usual over-bed-head cupboards, his and hers illuminated wardrobes and even little hatches into the ends of the under-bed locker (though I wasn’t convinced how useful these would actually be). There’s a padded headboard, too, and plenty of room to sit up in bed, as well as reading lights and a TV bracket.

Swift provides a proper spare tyre, rather than just a can of ‘gunk’. But it does need to upgrade the gas struts that support the bed when it is raised to reach the space below – they aren’t adequate to support a duvet, too.

The shower, however, is more than adequate: plenty of headroom, a good, powerful jet from the water-saving shower head, plenty of space inside its cylindrical form and fully plastic lined. Top marks. The toilet room, opposite, looks smart, and comes with its own Alde radiator in addition to the usual swivel cassette toilet, etc. Lighting here is excellent but space ‘on the throne’ with the door closed is tight. Of course, you can open the door round to separate the back of the motorhome from the front, but only if your beloved is not in bed (and you’ve remembered to close the bedroom window blinds) as there’s no second door or screen to separate bathroom from bedroom. Such privacy issues apply to the shower, too, despite the frosted door to the cubicle itself.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read loads more like it in every issue of MMM magazine - Britain's best-selling motorhome magazine

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