Sussex Campers Paradise

Based on a farm, about 15 minutes’ drive from Gatwick airport, Sussex Campers is a small motorhome converter, specialising in tailor-made motorhomes to suit customers’ individual requirements.

However, they also market a range of standard conversions, including the Paradise model seen here. It is available on either new or nearly new base vehicles, of which the company can source late model, low mileage versions. Furniture units are individually manufactured for each model, hand-cut rather than mass-produced, hence the flexibility for customers to have each conversion designed to their individual requirements.

The Paradise is a two-berth high-top which is available either on a pre-owned short-wheelbase LDV Maxus (for under £20,000) or the more respected Ford Transit. Based on a brand-new Transit 280, the conversion comes in at £29,995, which is still a competitive price tag – as you’d expect from one of the industry’s lesser known names.

Lounging

The conversion puts both cab seats on swivel bases so that they can form part of a dining or lounging area with a central island-leg table and two forward-facing single seats, which have three-point seatbelts. Covered in a deckchair-stripe pattern material, the seats add a bit of seaside style and the cab chairs are quite wide and comfortable.

At night, the bases of the forward-facing seats slide forward to form two benches down either side of the vehicle, then a hard-backed infill section of mattress, which stores in the overcab section of the high-top, can be placed in between them to form a short transverse double bed. You could also potentially form two single beds, using the bases of the cab seats as the foot of the beds.

Kitchen

Behind the seats, the main kitchen unit is on the nearside and includes a two-burner hob and a small stainless-steel sink, as well as a standard mains-powered microwave (12V/mains optional) set at a convenient height. There are also a couple of 12V and mains sockets on the front of the kitchen unit. The fridge is a 70-litre compressor type, also mounted at a convenient height, opposite the main kitchen unit. Add in a fair amount of free worktop and you’ve got a good kitchen.

There’s no built-in cassette toilet, but a purpose-built storage unit on the offside houses a Porta-Potti.

As standard, there’s no hot water or interior heating in the Paradise but a Propex blown-air system and a Propex Malaga boiler are extra-cost options. Surely you don’t need heating in paradise anyway?

This motorhome review of the Sussex Campers Paradise was published in the July 2012 issue of Which Motorhome. You can download the full magazine by clicking HERE

 

 

Overall, the Paradise is a practical conversion which would be great for a couple or a single owner, and with a price tag as tested that compares well with a secondhand buy. We were also impressed by the flexibility of this small company’s operation, with the ability to tailor-make any conversion to suit your own needs.