Full review

Many more van conversions are now built on the extra-long 6.36m Ducato and there’s no shortage of coachbuilts over 7m long. Could the tide be turning again?

Swift thinks so. Its upmarket Bolero range is where the company has invested most of its product development efforts in 2016. And the 744PR is the biggest Bolero to date, at over 8m long.

The Black Edition colour scheme adds to the impressive effect, as do stridently bright LED daytime running lights. The low-line overcab marries very smoothly into the Fiat Ducato cab and it ought to be robust, too, using Swift’s new Smart Plus wood-free polyurethane framing. Insulation in the side walls is only polystyrene, though, rather than superior Styrofoam.

A big motorhome like this needs a powerful base vehicle – here, it’s the Maxi version of the Ducato, with a gross vehicle weight of 4,250kg. This restricts the Bolero to C1 licence-holders, but the upside is an excellent payload of 875kg.

Because the chassis is low, there’s no need for an external step, just an easy internal step. Once inside, you’ll find a U-shaped lounge in the rear and an equally welcoming front lounge with swivelling cab seats and two parallel settees – the offside L-shaped one containing two travel seats.

The cab has Remis blinds and captain’s style seats with twin armrests, but no leather steering wheel and climate control.

Power comes from the 148bhp, 2.3-litre engine with a six-speed manual gearbox. The Comfort-Matic robotised gearbox option costs £1,695 but Swift doesn’t offer the 3-litre, 177bhp engine, which would be ideal for the 744 as the test ’van lacked that vital spark.

Six could inhabit the rear lounge very comfortably, especially if the free-standing table was left in the wardrobe, with six more in the front lounge. Lighting is good, with four adjustable reading lamps in each lounge, ambient lighting above and two excellent lights on flexible stalks for cab seat occupants. There’s provision for TVs and extra speakers in both lounges.

There’s a lot of natural light from the big side windows, an enormous overcab skylight and Hekis above both front and rear lounges. If the party needs warming up, radiators along the walls behind the backrests are heated by an Alde system.

The 744 can also act as four-berth as it has two rear travel seats, although they are quite narrow for two adults. Isofix fittings for child seats are not available.

The large kitchen’s worktop is tough, smooth, and easily cleaned. Into it is set a deep sink with a chopping-board insert and removable plastic drainer.

There’s a Dometic three gas-burner hob with an electric hotplate, plus grill and separate oven below. Above, at a height of 1.60m, is the microwave. The Dometic fridge has a total capacity of 110 litres – less than in most foreign competitors.

Storage is pretty good, with two capacious overhead cupboards plus an impressive cutlery drawer above the fridge and another drawer and large unshelved cupboard below the sink. But it’s gloomy in the chef’s department. There’s no extractor above the cooker either.

The modern, well-lit washroom has an unusually shaped but generous, washbasin and a swivel-bowl toilet set comfortably low. Through the wash area you reach the commodious shower cubicle with its Ecocamel Halo shower head, but also with two lights that have cranium-threatening, metal supports. Fortunately, there’s enough headroom for most folk to be safe. The shower tray gains marks for having two drain holes, and all the necessary trimmings.

The rear lounge beds aren’t a problem – by simply removing the backrests the settees convert to two singles measuring a marginal 1.84m by a satisfactory 65cm. The slatted settee bases pull out into the centre to make the alternative double bed, which measures 1.25m by 1.37m - although one could just extend the single beds sideways and sleep longitudinally. If sleeping across the ’van, some might want a mattress-topper.

The front bed, however, is an onerous chore most people would avoid. Three seat bases have to be extended, a separate wooden board then fills the remaining gap and a total of nine separate cushions have to be fitted together. The tadpole-shaped bed is only 1.03m wide for much of its 2.01m length, so isn’t a proper double.

In fact the front lounge is much better kept as such. But one does yearn for a drop-down bed over the lounge - a route increasingly taken by competitors.

The rear lounge has extensive overhead cupboards, and the settee bases are commodious, despite housing the Alde heater. Only the nearside one is accessible externally. There’s also a large illuminated wardrobe alongside the washroom.

The front lounge has five overhead cupboards. There’s room, too, in the offside seat base, as Swift mounts the Bolero’s water tanks underneath the ’van. At this price one might have hoped for a double floor, not just for winterisation but also to offer more storage.

Heating the peerless Alde heating system with gas is possible on the move. The Alde control system, above the habitation door, is simple to use and the main control panel alongside is also impressive - some functions can be operated remotely via Swift’s Command smartphone app.

This is an abridged version of the full review appearing in the March 2016 issue of MMM.