Danbury Trail campervan

Berths: 2/5 Travel seats: 5 Base vehicle: VW Transporter T6 Gross weight: 3,000kg Payload: 857kg

Danbury offers a whole gamut of VW campervan conversions, but this is its entry-level model, with prices starting (on a brand-new 84PS T6) at just under £40k.

You can save more money still by having your new Trail conversion based on a secondhand T5 or T6 van.

But this camper is not just a stripped out version of the Surf, instead it adopts a different layout, with a near-full-width rear bench seat and a smaller kitchen that runs across the vehicle behind the driver’s seat. The advantages of the wider rear seat are twofold: three rear passengers can be accommodated (so it’s a six-seater if you go for a double cab passenger seat), and, when folded down, there’s a much wider bed than is the norm for a VW camper.

The galley incorporates a combination stainless-steel hob and sink unit with two burners and spark ignition. Water is pumped from a 12-litre container below.

The design of the kitchen also allows for the 40-litre compressor fridge to be reached from outside, as its door faces the sliding door aperture. Other storage here is quite limited but it does include a lidded drawer that adds worktop space or can serve as a coffee table for the swivel passenger seat.

Here, the galley is shown in an optional premium wood finish, priced at £599. In fact, Danbury offers over 50 different finishes for the furniture, including colours from white to orange if you want to avoid the wood look. There are as many choices when it comes to soft furnishings, even full leather from £1,850. You can select the floor finish, too, although there are ‘only’ four possibilities here. Add in base vehicle and conversion options, exterior colours (even duo-tone) and engine variations and no two Trails are likely to be identical!

Further decisions concern the wardrobe. This slim unit alongside the rear seat on the offside can be shelved (as here) or fitted with a hanging rail. Or you can leave out this unit altogether and have a double bed that occupies the full width of the camper. Whichever version you order you’ll find smart, automotive-style plastic trims on the walls – much easier to keep clean than carpet.

The Trail is based on a short-wheelbase VW Transporter as standard, but a long-wheelbase version is also available. The full range of Volkswagen engines and transmissions is offered, too. You can have 84, 102, 150 or 204PS power units and five or six-speed manual gearboxes (depending on the motor selected), as well as DSG automatic. 4Motion four-wheel drive can be mated to the top pair of engines.

Danbury’s standard spec for the Trail includes an 85Ah leisure battery, the company’s own design of elevating roof and LED lighting. An unusual option is electric operation for the seat-to-bed conversion.

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