East Neuk Touring Sport

Here’s an innovative alternative to a VW camper from East Neuk – with more space and a £29k price tag (on a new base vehicle). Does the combinaton of front lounge and a flexible approach to combining beds and storage work?

Fife-based East Neuk Campervans is perhaps the northernmost outpost of British motorhome manufacture. Anstruther, where David Lynch and son Darren have their factory, is a historic fishing village with beautiful harbour and renowned fish and chip shops! Small the company may be, but it punches far above its weight, producing the Fifer Touring campervan on three different wheelbases of light commercial vans (either Fiat Ducato or Citroën Relay). Its designs are thoughtful and innovative, construction standards high, the motorhomes practical in use, and the prices are always very competitive.

This model aims to fill a niche for a multi-purpose vehicle on a brand-new base van, competing with traditional VW campers, but at far lower cost – hence the new Touring Sport, at £29,000.

The Citroën’s short-wheelbase Relay, with standard height roof, is wider than Volkswagen’s Transporter and the sides are more vertical, allowing a more commodious conversion inside. The low roof Relay can more easily carry rooftop loads (from canoes to roof boxes), but it is still taller than a VW T5 and therefore less garageable or parkable in height-barrier-infested town centres. Meanwhile, the alternative high-top Ducato will offer greater storage and headroom.
On the road, the Touring Sport lives up to its name, it’s snappy and responsive, while the wide track and sharp steering give excellent handling! The conversion is quiet, with few rattles; and with uninterrupted vision through the (heated) rear windows, and standard parking sensors, parking is a doddle.

In the rear, a pair of minibus seats with integral seatbelts allows two extra passengers to be carried. However with that low roof, interior height is 1.63m (5ft 4in).

Behind the passenger cab seat is a compact, square unit housing the cooker; immediately aft of the door is a long unit containing a sink, which slides out forwards towards the cooker, largely blocking the entrance. Opposite the door are a wall-mounted table and the rear travel seats. Behind the rear seats is a large mid-height unit which (with its mattresses stored on top), provides the bulk of the transverse double bed base – below are a compressor fridge and storage cupboards, one with a hanging rail, doubling as a small wardrobe. There’s no washroom, but this is a campervan (and a VW rival), after all.

With cab seats swivelled, four can be accommodated. In addition to the large table, a big flap attached to the cooker unit lifts to provide another table for the cab passenger, so everyone has an accessible dining surface. Regrettably, we didn’t find the rear seats especially comfortable, either for driving or lounging.

Cooking is always fairly basic in a camper – but the Touring Sport’s compact facilities are well consideredm with decent specification and worktops. Lacking a washroom, a Porta Potti 335 is stored at the rear offside of the bed unit and pulled into the aisle for use. At night, bed boards fold out from the top of the offside unit, mating with the long nearside unit; they’re halved, so you can have a single or a double, and the mattresses zip together.
Storage is nearly all at low level, with just an open, lipped shelf above the nearside unit.

Overall, this is a clever, well-specified, multi-purpose vehicle, at an extremely competitive price. It could be a campervan, as well as a sole vehicle that can carry four, or a work van with the capability of sleeping over. The high-top version, with its extra storage and headroom, should be even better, but there’s no doubt ENC has found an unoccupied niche and filled it admirably.