La Strada Avanti EB

Berths: 2 Travel seats: 4 Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato Gross weight: 3,500kg Payload: 500kg

Here we test the mid-range Avanti EB campervan, based on the extra-long Fiat Ducato and featuring a rear twin single bed layout.

What the Avanti EB offers that makes it different is storage space at the back that’s more akin to the kind of full-height garage people look for in a coachbuilt motorhome.

Like all UK-bound Avantis, it’s only the cab that’s configured for right-hand drive. The rest of the conversion stays ‘European’, with the sliding door on our offside and the rear passenger seat on the nearside.

The cab seats are from Isri with all kinds of extra adjustability, including pneumatic lumbar control and heating. They’re captain’s style, with twin armrests, and they did appear to be even easier to swivel than the standard Ducato offerings.

A Kenwood super-stereo and air-con upgrades feature on this example, too, along with such niceties as the leather steering wheel. These base vehicle upgrades come from a selection of Driver’s Packs that will have you fretting over the brochures. But, if you want the frills, you’re going to have to pay for them. Here, it’s the Azzorro upholstery, but again it appears to be a superior quality. Then there are eight furniture colours, and seven shades for locker doors – even a yellow, called Curry! Externally, there are 11 Fiat colours to choose from (six of them metallic).

It’s just that bit better travel proposition for those in the back of the Avanti, too, thanks to a curved backrest and height-adjustable head restraints on the forward-facing bench seat (admittedly, it’s not the widest).

There’s also a bit of fore and aft adjustment for the squab which you may enjoy all the more when you’re parked up on site. The table is a pretty hefty unit in this instance because of the large swing-out extension section. At least that means four really can sit around it and the chef may welcome the extra space for preparation at meal times.

Two plugholes and a good, solid shower tray underfoot –such things are instant signs that this is a cut above the norm. The double doors to the washroom are rather stylish, too, but at these prices you’d expect nothing less. Key fixtures are also up to the mark. It’s the superior Dometic swivel-bowl toilet. The fixed, corner basin is just about big enough to be practical, with its faucet pulling out and clipping to a riser bar when it comes to showering. You’ll have to pull a curtain all around you, though.

It’s a bit of a mixed bag as far as the chef is concerned. Initial impressions are of just a three-ring hob and sink combination and a smallish fridge (80 litres). There’s an excellent flip-up worktop extension to your left. There’s also excellent high and low-level storage in the kitchen area – including a tambour door locker above (divided and shelved), a spice rack and a clip-in bin that can go into any of the three larger drawers. There’s also a useful – and sturdy – slide-out worktop and drawer arrangement for use outside with the door open. That’s something we haven’t seen before.

It’s by folding up the rearmost bed section on its pneumatic struts that you get the full garage effect. It’s easy to see bikes (including electric models) stowing in here, safely out of sight. Thanks to the double-floor construction, there are plenty of low-level storage points (three in the lounge/kitchen zone), with warm air to the one just inside the sliding door (a good place to stow your footwear, then?). Drawers and lockers in both bed bases may well cope with most of your clothing. Failing that, there’s the capacious overcab locker. Hinges and catches are of a particularly sturdy quality that bodes well for long-term use.

The permanent single beds aren’t set too high, while two long and low steps help with the access. With a bit of pillow arrangement to overcome the tumblehome of the rear doors, you could sit up fully, too. There are lockers to three sides here, but again they’re not so deep as to compromise sitting space. You can also make a double, thanks to two swing-out bars and additional mattress pieces. Again, it’s all very clever – the nearside single bed slides across so the extra cushions drop in adjacent to the wall. Note the small windows at the back. There’s also an optional Midi Heki overhead.

Just the one mains socket might seem a bit parsimonious. But you can offset that against two lots of double USBs (one in the lounge and one next to the traditional socket in the kitchen – surprisingly, there’s nothing at all in the bedroom). Lighting seems pretty good. There are top-quality, dual-setting, touch-control lamps in the lounge and the bedroom, some high-level ambient illumination, a strip light over the kitchen and a touch-control downlighter over each cab seat – all LED, of course. Meanwhile, underfoot, there are carpet sections in this model. In truth, the plastic flooring didn’t seem to get too cold on the feet… and, like the rest of this impressively made conversion, it had a reassuring feeling of durability about it.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read the full version and more in the March 2017 issue of MMM magazine.

You can get a digital version of this latest issue of MMM magazine here.

Welcome back La Strada – a van conversion specialist that always seemed to be a cut above the norm. The new Avanti is well made and should provide years of great service