Full review

Words & photos: Peter Vaughan

The Rolling Homes Darwin

Would Charles Darwin have seen Rolling Homes’ latest model as an example of evolution? After all, it’s a VW – the brand with which this converter is so closely associated, being one of the select few with its Motorhome  Qualification Scheme accreditation – and there’s the same impression of top-quality finish inside. 

It’s NCC (National Caravan Council) approved, too, like its little brothers. 

But there’s also a degree of revolution here. It may be another VW, but the new Darwin is almost two metres  longer than the company’s best-selling (T6.1-based) Columbus.

The layout

Inside, there’s a full-sized washroom, while the layout bears no relation to a side kitchen conversion. Nor is this just a facsimile of what others have created within the increasingly popular Crafter/MAN van. 

The firm from Shrewsbury could have played it safe with a classic rear lounge or gone for a more continental fixed bed floorplan, but instead it has come up with something unique.

Here, the kitchen is up front, adjacent to and opposite the sliding door, the washroom is right across the back and the lounge is amidships. It’s a format that I can only ever recall seeing manufactured once before, in a Fiat Ducato-based camper from the now-defunct Shire Conversions.

However, even since its debut at last October’s NEC show Rolling Homes has refined the design (more evolution!), opening up its washroom to provide access through the back doors. The definitive Darwin appeared at the February Birmingham show and was delivered to MMM almost straight after.

The spec

Based on the long-wheelbase VW Crafter, this is a BIG campervan, at 6.84m long, while of course retaining the easier driving on narrow roads (compared with a wider coachbuilt) of a panel van. Unlike some of its rivals, it’s also a genuine 3.5-tonne vehicle (with a respectable 380kg payload).

But these larger premium vans (Crafter, Sprinter or MAN TGE) always come at a cost – the starting price for a Darwin is just a fiver under a hundred thousand pounds.

And that is just the start, based on a 102hp, manual gearbox van. Our test vehicle, spec’d as we’d expect most customers to want their Darwin, comes to over £123,000. 

The top spec 177hp engine is the most expensive upgrade, at £6,644, while the eight-speed automatic gearbox adds another £2,248. Then there’s the Executive Pack – front and rear parking sensors, cab air-conditioning, rear camera, multifunction steering wheel, fog/cornering lights, automatic headlights and a heated windscreen – for £3,995.

Metallic paint is £1,464 (VW options never are cheap!), the 16in alloy wheels are £900 and a heated steering wheel adds £366. 

What you end up with then – if you can afford it – is a base vehicle that is not just half-a-metre longer than the biggest Fiat/Peugeot but also a world away in terms of sophistication. 

I make no secret of the fact that I firmly believe these VW/MAN vans are the very best on the market and this Darwin lived up to my high expectations.

The comfortable cab seats (with tilting squabs and electric lumbar adjustment) I have sat in before and I’m a big fan of the cab ergonomics and the top-class fit and finish ( for a van).

The torque converter transmission was as smooth as I’d hoped and the 177hp engine gave me all the performance I’d want in a campervan. What really impressed me this time was the stability of the Darwin as I hurried up the A1, passing all the HGVs in rather blustery conditions en route to the Caravan and Motorhome Club’s Clumber Park site.

The interior

The Darwin would have been equally well suited to an off-grid adventure. It looks super-discreet in Indium Grey with flush-fitting double-glazed habitation windows and a lack of garish graphics. 

More importantly, ‘ours’ had a 155W solar panel on the roof (£890 extra) and a 230Ah lithium leisure battery (£1,200). With Truma’s Combi D 4 E heating, we could also keep cosy with either diesel or hook-up providing the power, and Rolling Homes’ usual sheep’s wool insulation seemed to do an effective job on a chilly February night. 

There’s just one caveat to the last point, though, and it’s that the uncarpeted floor in the kitchen was cold for bare feet – this campervan would benefit from an extra heater duct up front. 

What interested me most, though, was how I would get on with this unique interior layout. I’ll admit that I had my reservations on seeing the original prototype but, away from the show lights with this evolved model, I was soon much more enthusiastic.

After all, it’s not difficult to be won over by the superb Rolling Homes craftsmanship. The company’s trademark European oak cabinetwork, made in its own workshops, might be a £4,995 option but it gives the Darwin a feeling of handmade luxury that few come close to matching. 

And it’s not just the beautiful woodwork that helps to justify that £123k price tag, but the immaculately finished half-leather upholstery and the Corian worktops (kitchen and washroom). It can all be bespoke to your taste, too, as each Darwin is built to order. 

The lounge

Some may miss the outdoors/ indoors feeling of a rear lounge, with the back doors wide open on a warm day, but the central lounge has a cosiness that comes from being away from any entrance. 

It’s spacious, too, with long settees on either side allowing plenty of space to stretch out, feet up, and the large windows on either side and the push-up Heki sunroof above ensure that there’s plenty of daylight.

After dark, it’s even more impressive, with a wooden ceiling panel hosting downlights and ambient strips,  more LED striplights under the top lockers and swivelling reading lights fitted in all four corners of the seating space. If you want to add a telly, aerial and 12V sockets are situated by the washroom wall in the offside corner of the lounge. 

So, this is a spacious and very comfortable place in which to relax and it works equally well for dining. The table stores behind the driver (where there’s still plenty of seat adjustment for the very tall) and it’s a versatile free-standing unit that’s more than adequate (and wobble-free) for two diners. Nitpicking, I’d just like it to have rounded corners. 

There’s good storage under the settees, with the nearside offering drop-front as well as top access into an unencumbered space (which I only half-filled with a pair of pillows and two single duvets). On the offside, you’ll find the boiler and habitation electrics, although half of this settee is still given over to storage (with top access only).

The beds

Then, at night, the sofas become beds after you’ve deployed the pleated blinds (including Remis cab blinds) and remembered to dim the main control panel’s bright blue touchscreen. 

In this Darwin, the nearside bed is just under 6ft, the offside one a little longer, but Rolling Homes says it can create bed sizes to suit  the customer. 

What I would like to see is the top, rolled, leather section of the sofas’ backrests becoming  removable as they currently impinge on your sleeping space when using the single beds (which are virtually instant – just remove the main backrest cushions).

To make a double bed, there are four vented panels to slot in between the sofas, then you just add the backrest cushions on top. The resultant mattress is flat – you don’t feel the joins at all – and almost super king size in dimensions. 

Whether you choose singles or the double, you can sleep with either heads to the front or rear, but it makes more sense to have your pillows at the cab end when snoozing together in the big bed as it’s then easy to shuffle off the end of the mattress into the washroom.

As you sleep lengthways, you don’t have to climb over your partner to get out of bed and, if they’re still snoring while you’re in dire need of the day’s first caffeine, that’s no problem, either. 

Both cab seats swivel, so there’s somewhere to sit while you wait for them to wake up – pity there’s no coffee table here but I’m sure Rolling Homes could oblige if you wanted.

The washroom

At the opposite end of this campervan, the washroom is super impressive for a panel van conversion and spacious enough to act as a comfortable changing room. 

It occupies the full width of the Crafter and can be accessed via an inward-opening door from the living area or from outside through the barn doors at the back – ideal if you’re coming off the beach and want to go straight into the shower. 

The layout here places the superior Dometic cassette toilet (with ceramic bowl) on the offside, along with a ceramic washbasin and plenty of cupboard space. Even larger folk will find more than enough room to use these facilities.

The separate shower (on the nearside) is a very welcome find in a campervan and a pleasure to use, although this may not suit those of bigger build quite as well. 

Water pressure was good and the box over the wheelarch is ideal for resting shower gel, etc, but soapy suds were a bit slow to flow away.

Fresh and waste water tanks are both underslung (the grey water tank is a bit small), but can be heated and insulated as a £380 option. 

I’d like to see something better than the fiddly drain taps used here, although these are commonly seen on campervans.

The kitchen

The culinary quarters might have had a hard act to follow after the impressive ablutions – but there’s no disappointment here. 

The Thetford hob provides both induction and gas cooking, while below the Duplex oven is also a grill. Then, completing the set, there’s a built-in Dometic plateless microwave (a £650 option) above. 

With the fridge being an 84-litre compressor unit (conveniently at waist height) – and heating using diesel – you shouldn’t need a lot of gas, so it’s just a single Campingaz cylinder that lives in a steel box in the base of the nearside galley unit. 

It’s here by the sliding door that you’ll also find much of the kitchen storage (including three large drawers) as well as the stainless-steel sink (with flush-fitting cover) and plenty of preparation space on the Corian countertop.

Mains sockets are fitted on both sides of the camper (plus USBs on the offside), but there’s no top cabinet above the sink, which greatly increases the impression of space here. 

You’ll not be short of cupboards, though. There’s a capacious shelved locker under the fridge and eye-level cupboards (with concealed positive-locking catches) are mounted over each of the settees. Then there’s another drawer under the oven and a slim cupboard (which looked as if it, perhaps, ought to have a hanging rail) alongside.

You’ll also spot the shallow open shelf above the cab but the most versatile space could be the area between the shower and the nearside rear door (accessed from outside). 

Rolling Homes can fit this out according to your needs, with shelves, straps or cargo nets. It’s the ideal space for outdoor chairs, levelling wedges, etc.

Motorhome supplied by Rolling Homes Camper Ltd
Tel: 01743 443877
rolling-homes.co.uk

Insurance: £853.60
Tel: 0800 975 1307
shieldtotalinsurance.co.uk
For quote details: motorhome.ma/QuoteInfo