Swift Select 122 campervan

Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato Price from: £58,390 Berths: 2 Travel seats: 2 Length: 6.00m Width: 2.26m Height: 2.72m Gross weight: 3,500kg Payload: 588kg

Words & photos: Peter Vaughan

The Swift Select 122

With a completely redesigned Escape range, an all-new Kon-Tiki flagship and the Ford Transit Custom-based Monza pop-top all arriving this year, it would be easy to overlook Swift’s Select van conversion range. It, too, has had a minor makeover for 2022, though. Of course, that’s partially down to the arrival of the facelifted Fiat Ducato, in Series 8 guise, and the adoption of a new exterior colour – the trendy non-metallic Lanzarote Grey.

Just four models make up this season’s Select range – two six-metre LWB ’vans and two extra-long 6.36m campers. All get the latest 2.2-litre Euro 6D-Final engines with 140bhp, as well as ESC and the Eco Pack (which includes stop/start).               

What’s included

In the cab, in addition to the new instrument cluster and steering wheel, the latest Selects also get a DAB radio with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. External features now include a barbecue point and cold shower, a 100W solar panel, Thule roll-out awning and flyscreen for the sliding door. Alloy wheels and reversing sensors (but not a camera) are standard, so the only factory option is the automatic gearbox (priced at £2,995).            

The layout

While other models in the range have a half-dinette providing rear travel seats, the 122 is a pure two-berth with the emphasis on the large lounge at the back. That’s not to say that the cab can’t be used on site, though, as both chairs swivel (the driver’s only through 90 degrees), and there are reading lights here – as well as daylight from the large glass sunroof above.

There’s no table for this area, but you get a choice of two pole-in-the-hole tables that can be set up between the rear sofas.

With tall furniture right behind the pilot’s seat (where the larger table also stows), do check the driving position for comfort if you’re very tall. Likewise, the rear double bed (1.83m by 1.86m) will suit most, but try it for size if in doubt. It’s longer across the ’van than sleeping lengthways, while another option is to simply use the settees as single beds.               

The rear lounge

When parked up, it’s the rear lounge that’s central to the Select 122’s appeal. As the sofas are long enough to sleep on, they offer plenty of room for daytime sprawling. The large table serves when dining but there’s also a small round coffee table. Reading lights are fitted in the rear corners, a mid-sized rooflight offers daylight and fresh air and there are speakers in the ceiling. There’s a TV station, too, but no bracket for the telly.

The rear lounge area also caters for much of the 122’s storage, with top lockers and space beneath the settees (mainly on the nearside as the offside sofa houses the boiler – a 6kW gas/electric Combi – and habitation electrics).          

The kitchen

With so much space dedicated to lounging, the kitchen has to play second fiddle. It still gets a Thetford Triplex cooker with three gas burners and a combined oven/grill, but the only worktop is provided by a folding flap and there’s just one small drawer, hidden in the cupboard under the sink. Storage is quite limited because the gas locker intrudes markedly into the galley, while the aisle also narrows to only 410mm by the sink. The 85-litre three-way fridge is opposite the main kitchen unit, below the jacket-length wardrobe.

Swapping the positions of cooler and clothes would have been more practical.          

The washroom

The washroom has a neat tip-up basin but the loo is rather high (especially if you have little legs) and showering requires the use of a clingy curtain. Perhaps for its next update, Swift could look at the swing-wall washroom designs employed by the likes of Adria and Dreamer to enhance this space. Larger fresh and waste water tanks would be welcome, too.