Danbury Dynamic

Prices from: £27,249 as tested: £32,273 Berths: 1/2 Travel seats: 4/5

With its optional black paint, the Caddy looks smart, and with an options list to rival any car you can make it your own. You’d have to be pretty extrovert to go for the bright orange paint job – especially as you can also have orange-coloured wood inside, but several other options are available.

The grey upholstery in the rear works well with the original VW seat trim up front, but the tartan curtains are a love or loathe addition which look more at home in Danbury’s Type 2 conversions.

Kitchen

On the nearside is the low-level sink, positioned beside the inward-facing settee. On the offside is the tall kitchen unit, as well as a removable unit that can be taken out to fit a seat for a fifth passenger (who will sit next to the original two-person forward-facing seat from VW). All the rear passengers get head restraints and seatbelts.

Rear seating

The rear double seat also lays flat at the pull of a ribbon (leaving the head restraints almost touching the front seats). This gives you access to the nearside sliding door, which (in this prototype) is the only exit as there’s no interior handle for the top-hinged tailgate. This will be changed on production models, however, with an internal door catch being featured as standard, as well as opening windows throughout.

But even with this new handle on the tailgate, access to the living quarters won’t be easy. You’ll still have to lift and shut the relatively heavy tailgate every time you want to make an exit – and you’ll let out a lot of warm air each and every time too. Also, you need a decent amount of space behind the vehicle to give the tailgate room to rise. You can specify twin side-hinged rear doors, but then you'll have to use a free-standing awning, instead of the one that Danbury developed to go over the Caddy’s tailgate.

There’s plenty of room for a sleeping bag beneath the inward-facing seat, and there are lots of cubbyholes within both the kitchen unit and the removable unit forward of that (complete with its silver roller shutter door). Bear in mind, though, that there’s nowhere specifically designed to store a Porta-Potti – and to use one on site you really need a toilet tent.

Kitchen

For food storage there’s a larder to the right of the 40-litre compressor fridge, while above the fridge is a small cupboard for your guide books and the like. Below is a drawer – I thought this would be great for my crockery set but it proved just too small for my plates, so these had to stand upright in the removable unit. The main storage is also in the removable unit, with two large shelves which aren’t overly deep as behind, accessible from outside, is a small hanging rail and a low-level cubbyhole which I found useful for my dirty laundry and towels.

Bedroom

Caddy’s bed was extremely easy to make up, however, and proved surprisingly comfortable. You unfold the wooden bed base over the storage void and then simply replace the cushions. I had already folded down the forward-facing seat to make a comfortable lounger during the day, so the large single bed was almost made. The bed also takes up the whole of the floorspace, so you’ll have to put your Porta-Potti in a loo tent or awning.

Living area

I wasn’t too comfortable living with just the metre-long side bench to sit on. With just 40cm of floorspace in front of you, there isn’t much room to move – especially as this aisle narrows to 30cm beside the sink and is just 150cm long in total.

Because the vehicle is so narrow, the two-burner hob and grill are within comfortable reach of the seat. I didn't have to get up to reach the fridge or larder and once I’d finished with a pan, I could simply drop it into the sink beside me. I must admit to using the campsite facilities to wash up, as you have to boil the water and then kneel on the floor to use the sink. The two tables provided act as slide-out worktop extensions beneath the hob and fridge.

Although I initially lost patience with the lounging arrangements, I soon made myself comfortable for a cold week in Wales. Even so, Danbury needs to sort out some proper backrest cushions for the folded travel seat. I would also want some ventilation in the roof for the hot summer months, but I couldn’t help liking the cheeky Caddy. It’s great to drive and will appeal to solo campers.

This motorhome Touring Test review of the Danbury Dynamic was published in the August 2012 issue of Which Motorhome. You can download the full magazine by clicking HERE

Danbury’s newest creation is an unusual VW campervan with a choice of economical turbo-diesel engines. The Dynamic needs tweaks to make the layout really work, but the Caddy drives well and is keenly priced.