Living with a... Danbury Space Cruise

After 22 years of cycle touring and camping in a lightweight, two-person tent our knees put in a request for a campervan. We wanted a camper with enough space to get two bikes inside. The upholstery and interior had to be tough enough to cope with two wet and muddy cyclists. Fridge, cooking space, cupboards and toilet had to remain accessible when the bed was made up. It had to be easy to park and be used economically every day. We guessed leisure use would be at least a weekend a month, April to September, plus two longer holidays.

After a tour of local dealers, we decided on a rising roof camper. We ruled out the classic VW layout because the bed took up too much kitchen space and it wasn’t possible to easily get the bikes in.

The Danbury Space Cruise (on the 2.0-litre short wheelbase Fiat Ducato) seemed to meet all the requirements due to its large empty floorspace, tough plain interior, comfortable bed across the rear and big, straight-sided rising roof. It was possible to almost stand up inside with the roof down, which was an added bonus.


HONEYMOON PERIOD

The weather was kind and it was bliss to arrive back at the ‘van to sit on a sofa with a proper glass of wine after an epic bike ride. After years of ground-level living and drinking out of plastic mugs, this was luxury.

For everyday use the ‘van was easy to park, comfortable to drive and very manoeuvrable when negotiating tight spaces. We could stop and make lunch or a cuppa without lifting the roof or moving the bikes.


SITTING AND SLEEPING

This aptly named camper has a large area of empty floor space. Two can move around at the same time without any problem and there is ample space to bend down to reach into lower cupboards, whatever the size of your posterior!

A forward-facing sofa is placed centrally against the back doors. It may look small, but it’s very comfortable, with its sloping seat and high sloping back. The sofa also provides two belted travel seats and takes our rack, which secures both bikes by the front forks. Extra on-site seating is provided by the swivelling passenger seat.


WINING AND DINING

We rarely eat out, so kitchen space is important. Here, it’s neatly split either side of the front, with cupboards, fridge, hob and grill one side and the sink (above the toilet and water tank cupboards) on the other.

Each side has an additional lift-up work-surface (one came with the ‘van and Danbury added the other). The sink has a neat cover to match the (black) worktops. The kitchen provides plenty of surface to prepare meals and has a separate area for washing-up.

Unfortunately, the hob doesn’t come with a cover, which would provide a splashback when cooking. A 4.5kg gas cylinder is housed in a compartment in the cupboard below the hob.

We supplement the facilities with a Cobb charcoal barbecue/oven. Christmas dinner with all the trimmings is proof that there’s little lacking in the kitchen department.

Hot water comes from the kettle and waste water is collected in an outside portable tank. We like the removable inboard fresh water tank, for winter camping and for ease of cleaning, but it only holds 12 litres (2.6 gallons).

Everything has to earn its place on board and take up minimum space. Two large lower lockers, under the head and foot of the bed, take bedding, clothes and shoes.

The leisure battery and electrical units are located in the offside locker, while two lower cupboards take cooking pots and food. One of the two upper cupboards takes crockery, cutlery and glasses, the other gives us a shelf for things such washkits and books.

We like the ample boot space, as it’s accessible from inside (by lifting the base of the sofa) and outside. Here live levelling blocks, leads, waste container, sun canopy, silver screens, Cobb oven and walking boots. Keeping all the outdoor things together in one place, and being able to throw it all in via the back doors is a good feature.


POPPING THE TOP

The rising roof seemed like a good idea, but a very wet and windy trip to Scotland soon showed up shortcomings. It seemed that simply popping the top up invited the wind to blow a gale within seconds. The roof would probably stand quite a blow, but we were constantly fretting about it, while a wet weekend’s camping left damp roof fabric that needed airing.

We realised that we were now asking this little ‘van to do far more than it was ever designed for. We’d obviously bought the wrong type of ‘van for the rugged all-weather camping we now wanted to do.

Thoughts then turned to drastic action - replace the roof? Contact with companies advertising in MMM located a GRP high roof, which is now fitted. We now had a well-insulated high top that could camp anywhere, whatever the weather. The new roof provided a shelf running down each side of the interior and large upper lockers front and rear. It made sense to move the bedding into the rear locker and the table into the front. This allowed us to sort out our two other areas of concern...

We made the right decision buying the Danbury. Its comfort, layout, quality and style of furnishings and fittings are unbeatable for our all-weather active outdoor lifestyle. We plan to keep it for another eight years – the next one will be a custom-build, constructed to keep it as light, spacious, uncluttered and functional as the Space Cruise.

We fell back in love with our ‘van once the roof was changed and decided it needed a new name. Being a red Space Cruise, with the ability to take us anywhere, it just had to be Red Dwarf!

This is an edited version of a longer article which appeared in the April issue of MMM. To download a digital edition of MMM, click here.