Full review

What motorhome is just 5.68m (18ft 7in) long and only 2.05m (6ft 8in) wide, but not based on a panel van?

What fits four adult-sized berths into these dimensions, with four belted travel seats, and doesn’t feel small inside?

What vehicle has A-class bodywork with full winterisation in a size that you can park (easily) at Sainsbury’s? There is only one answer. The new City Van.

So, what is City Van? It’s a brand-new project, and a completely new marque (with its own dealer network), from the expanding Pilote Group (which also includes Moovéo, Bavaria, Le Voyageur, Frankia and RMB).

It is based on a Fiat Ducato chassis-cowl – just like many of Pilote’s full-sized A-class  motorhomes and it has the same construction techniques and the same 25mm Styrofoam insulation.

Pilote simply decided that they needed to be a player in the growing market for van conversion-sized motorcaravans but they did not want to go down the route of converting panel vans, which is very different to building coachbuilts and hard to efficiently manage on a mass-production scale.

The new vehicle had to be less than six metres long, though (for ferries and for urban use) and it had to offer full motorhome facilities inside. In a market where so many designs are little more than facsimiles of their rivals, what they came up with is truly unique.

Of course, a baby A-class is not in itself entirely new. Dethleffs have the Globebus-I and Hymer launched the Exsis-i at last year’s Düsseldorf show.

But both are around 100mm wider than the new City Van (not a lot, but still significant in this type of vehicle) and the Hymer (inexplicably) is over six metres long.

No other A-class motorhome – and not even any low-profile – really matches the City Van’s compactness, for the newcomer is truly of high-top dimensions (for comparison, a long-wheelbase Fiat/Peugeot van – as used by Auto-Sleepers, IH, Murvi, Timberland et al – is actually longer than three of the City Van models at 5.99m and identical in width at 2.05m).

But compact size on the outside, of course, means less living space on the inside. In a van conversion sloping sides and fixed dimensions limit layout flexibility and design considerably.

By building an A-class body instead, City Van gains straight side and rear walls and a lot more shoulder-room – the claim of size S with XXL comfort is no mere advertising slogan.

And City Van even looks like a hybrid of a van conversion and an A-class motorhome.



The front bumper and headlights are from the Fiat base vehicle – which comes as standard with the excellent 2.3-litre 130 Multijet engine – but the deep windscreen is pure A-class, while the pale grey bodywork is a touch of individuality that fits with the urban theme of the name.

You’ll be able to see it the City Van at October’s NEC show and Hayes Leisure (Pilote importers for the past 22 years) report that the first right-hand drive examples will arrive in the UK before the end of the year.

You’ll be able to choose from four models, all built on the Ducato chassis-cowl with the special lowered Camper chassis for a low centre of gravity (and correspondingly good handling) and a low floor (with 6ft 6in internal headroom).

Hayes Leisure have also ordered their first City Vans with both “winter pack” (on-road heating, pleated cab blinds, heated waste water tank) and “comfort pack” (electric mirrors, electric step, Heki 3 sunroof).

Even so-equipped, prices are expected to be just under £40,000 on-the-road. Go without the packs and a figure of £38,000 is anticipated. In other words, not only is the City Van van conversion-sized but it’s van conversion money too.



New models:

* City Van CV57G
5.68m A-class, transverse rear fixed bed.

* City Van CV57L
5.68m A-class, bunk bed layout for families.

* City Van CV57P
5.68m A-class, rear lengthways fixed bed.

* City Van CV60H
6.00m A-class, large front lounge, rear kitchen and bathroom with separate shower.

Worth waiting for?

Not just the most exciting new vehicles we’ve seen this year, but the most innovative we’ve been shown in years.

The City Van is truly as small and easy to drive as a van conversion but so much more spacious to live in. Quite simply, there’s nothing else like it.

It has absolutely everything most motorcaravanners will ever need in a high-quality package that’s small enough to go virtually anywhere. We love it and we’re sure you will too, but demand is expected to far exceed supply in 2008 so get your order in quick.

* A full version of this article plus more photographs appear in the September 2007 issue of Which Motorcaravan. To subscribe, click here.