Horizons Unlimited Cavarno XL (2010)

Horizons Unlimited Cavarno XL 2010

I CLEARLY remember my first close encounter with a Horizons Unlimited Cavarno: dark metallic grey, and with a seriously posh interior topped off by a surprisingly opulent washroom, only the price really counted against this classy, great-to-drive contender.

Well, here we are again, although this time the Cavarno in question is finished in a rather fetching shade of metallic blue, and is considerably bigger.

It sports the same full-house Ford cab – factory-fitted twin airbags, CD/radio (with an MP3 aux-in socket hidden in the passenger-side upper glovebox), cab air-conditioning, heated windscreen, ESP, cruise control, fingertip stereo controls and electric windows and door mirrors.

And it has basically the same layout (two forward-facing rear seats, offside kitchen and nearside washroom).

But the tape measure reveals the full story: compared to the standard Cavarno, the XL is some two and half feet longer, although – perhaps surprisingly – it’s not quite as tall, measuring 8ft 3in compared to the standard Cavarno’s lofty 9ft 1in.

Hauling back the sliding side door (which provides a three-quarter height opening) reveals familiar-looking twin rear seats. With the cab seats swivelled, a pleasantly convivial lounge area opens up, and it’s all (optional) half-hide trim, deep, squishy carpets and rich, dark woodwork. The cab doors do have to be open to turn the front seats though; otherwise the seat runners foul the door trim.

The offside floor has been raised by a little over two inches to rid the interior of dangling feet when dining, while users can choose between the standard main table (which stows away in its own locker to the left of the fridge when not in use), or a smaller (optional) coffee table, depending on the time of day.

The surrounding roof lockers, too, sport two-inch-deep retaining lips, with one in particular extending to a fitted shelf. The door over the cab, incidentally, opens to reveal a yawning void that’s huge, deep and properly lined with carpet, meaning your bedding shouldn’t get unpleasantly chilly during the winter months.

Further low storage can be found beneath the wardrobe (where you’ll also find two weapons-grade slide-out wire baskets) and nearside rear seat. The void beneath the offside seat is full of boiler paraphernalia, although there is a mains point sunk into the wall, here, to go with the matching socket (and TV aerial point) directly opposite. Both rear seats, of course, sport proper three-point safety belts, two-berth ultimate sleeping capacity notwithstanding.

As you’d expect, too, the dovetailed and oak veneered cabinetry (no stick-on trim here) itself is top-notch, while the new main controls, plus the simple rotary dial for the Webasto diesel-fired heating/boiler system, are located above the sliding door.

You’ll note that the rear seat backrests have more rake to them than before, too: a simple two-stage modification to the seat runners effectively banishes the usual upright sitting position; while slipping them into bed mode is the work of a couple of seconds and creates a pair of single beds measuring a whopping 6ft 6in each.

You can splash an extra £109 on a central infill to create a full double bed that’s 5ft 10in wide, too, although this would obviously make trips to the loo in the small hours rather more involved.

Walking further towards the XL’s rear reveals perhaps the most obvious difference between Cavarno and Cavarno XL: the kitchen.

In short, the XL’s kitchen wouldn’t disgrace some rather under-endowed coachbuilts we could mention – it’s absolutely enormous. Wipe-clean worktop space either side of the stainless steel sink is on the embarrassing side of generous, while fitted equipment includes a 70-litre Dometic fridge (with in-built freezer box) and a four-burner Spinflo Minigrill Mk III cooker.

You can specify an oven, too, if you wish, although this means, in turn, that the gas locker located hereabouts has to be re-located to the large locker beneath the wardrobe.

Storage in here is pretty good, too, with a large two-shelf cupboard and generous cutlery drawer (to be modified on production models to accommodate larger cooking utensils) squirreled away beneath the sink, and two large lockers at eye-level.

A small window would have made this area close to perfect, but as a van conversion galley, it’s right up there with the best.

All of which leaves only the washroom opposite the kitchen to consider. Accessed via a double-hinged door to maximise access space in what is, after all, quite a narrow area of the motorhome, the bathroom is necessarily compact, but noticeably more accommodating than that of the standard Cavarno.

Again, a small window (maybe a high-set affair, à la Romahome R30) would make this area better still, but you really can’t argue with the latest (and standard-fit) ceramic-bowl toilet, large tip-up washbasin and decent storage (shallow shelves inside the mirror vanity, together with a larger shelf beneath).

The sight of twin taps is perhaps something of an anachronism in these days of water-preserving (when showering) single mixers, but you could argue that few owners will regularly shower in their Cavarno, unless the CL they’re staying at is particularly minimalist in terms of facilities.

As such, this isn’t, perhaps, such a big deal, not least as a bi-fold shower screen door is a cost option, together with a clever marine-style loo roll cover.

A full version of this review was published in the November 2009 issue of Which Motorcaravan magazine.

Offering a large kitchen and two single beds (double is optional with an infill), the Cavarno XL is two-foot longer than the standard Cavarno.