Danbury Heritage 64 campervan

Berths: 4 Travel seats: 4 Base vehicle: VW Transporter T6 Gross weight: 3,500kg Payload: n/a

The Danbury name was born in 1964 and throughout the ’60s and ’70s the Essex-based converter became intrinsically linked to the Type 2 VW camper. That continued through to the new millennium with the importing of Brazilian-built T2s (still with the classic ‘bay window’ look and rear engine) for conversion at the now-Bristol-based company.

It’s this history to which the new Heritage 64 pays homage, although it’s built on the up-to-date T6 Transporter. Under the extra kit and retro-look two-tone paintwork, this is still the long-established Surf model – Danbury’s best seller. But here, diamond-stitched leather seats complement the high specification with a mix of classic and contemporary design.

The Heritage 64 can be based on either a Surf Double (as shown) or the Surf King (with slimline kitchen, three-person rear bench seat and a wider bed as a consequence).

This camper is not just about looks, though – the high-spec VW base vehicle comes with Climatic air-con, rear parking sensors, cruise control, rear privacy glass and a swivel single front passenger seat. Driver and passenger armrests are standard, too, as is the VW Comfort Pack and a Thatcham category 1 alarm.

The optional Premium Pack, costing £3,500, adds lots of equipment, including VW sat-nav, heated windscreen and gloss black external detailing. There is also a choice of turbo-diesel or petrol engines, as well as manual or DSG auto gearboxes. The 2.0TDI 102PS engine with five-speed manual gearbox is the starting point, included in the £49,995 price tag.

The show ’van is resplendent in Metallic Ink Blue over white, but there’s a choice of two others – Metallic Chilli Red over white and Metallic Gunmetal Grey over white. There are coordinated leather interiors with grey stitching. These are, respectively, blue, burgundy or black leather. However, at extra cost, you can choose your own colour for the lower-half paint job and your own leather, stitching and piping colours.

In the living area, the new Danbury comes with a Webasto diesel-fired blown-air heater, rear head restraints and special dimmable interior lighting. The classic side-mounted galley features a 50-litre fridge, a two-burner hob with grill and a stainless-steel sink with glass cover. Unusually for a VW T6 campervan, a full oven is available as an option, but only in the Double version with its wider galley. Also included as standard is a roof bed, so the Heritage 64 is a four-berth camper.

Grey Linen laminate is used for the interior cabinetry, whilst keeping the units neutral to match any leather choice. The standard Grey Chevron retro flooring is unique to this model. There’s an illuminated splashback to the galley, while the fridge hides behind a curved tambour door and there’s a slide-out rack for tinned foods alongside and a slide-out worktop above.

Danbury also uses its own rear seat/bed system with useful storage below, but its design rather limits storage space for bedding in the upper section of the boot area.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read loads more like it in What Motorhome magazine. You can get a digital version of this latest issue of What Motorhome magazine here.