Danbury Now

Berths: 2 Travel seats: 5 Base vehicle: Ford Grand Tourneo Connect Gross weight: 3,100kg Payload: 540kg

The Now is the smallest of three new Ford-based campers from Danbury. It’s a converter that has been synonymous with Volkswagen, but, like other converters, it’s latched onto the latest Transits – with this model based on the smaller Transit Connect.

This example has the mid-range Zetec specification, with cab air-conditioning, a heated windscreen and lots of driver’s seat adjustment. Plenty of people have tried to crack this ‘camping car’ market. What Danbury has done is concentrate all its conversion work at the back, with a removable furniture and double-bed-making unit. The system also relies on an awning fitting when the tailgate is up. This is priced separately, as an option – we’d say it’s an essential. And you have to leave the tailgate up permanently, which rather scuppers security.

The removable furniture unit houses a slide-out cooker and a Waeco coolbox, plus storage compartments that even include a cutlery drawer. A fixed sink is supplied by portable containers behind the rear seat.

You have to walk around to the back before you can even boil a kettle, but because all the camping kit is removable, the Now isn’t subject to any further Type Approval of the conversion. You might therefore benefit on insurance because this is classed as a normal car.

Danbury doesn’t even cut a hole for mains input. There’s a single mains socket on board, but it also includes double USBs.

You slide out and fold over bed boards to create a pretty generous double bed, although you have to be fairly nimble to get in and out of it. All the rear windows have camper curtains, but stowing away the cab’s stick-on thermal screens might be tricky.

Indeed, overall storage is a trial, despite a couple of ‘holdalls’ on the rear side panels. There’s plenty of kit out there to complement a vehicle like this, but storing a table and chairs, for example, on board could be difficult. At the very least, we’d like to see a retainer net behind the rear seat. And there’s no obvious place to stow a toilet.

The little Ford should be able to achieve up to 60mpg. There’s a choice of Euro VI engines, plus a 99bhp petrol engine and an automatic transmission option available.

This is an abridged version of the full review appearing in the June 2016 issue of What Motorhome. Buy it now.

The Now is still a bit of a work in progress, but you can see the potential. The optional awning is essential.