What Murvi Morello, Morocco and Pimento on the Fiat Euro 5

This motorhome review of the Murvi Morello, the Murvi Morocco and the Murvi Pimento was published in the June 2012 issue of Which Motorhome. You can download the full magazine by clicking HERE

Three Fiat Ducato van conversions from Murvi: the Pimento, the Morello and the Morocco. All three have new Fiat Euro V engines of 130, 148 and 177bhp. One of them is a 3-litre, there are three road-testers and they are undertaking three days of testing...

The plan is to drive from Murvi’s Ivybridge base at the southern tip of Dartmoor, through Devon and into Cornwall, to either prove, or disprove the lofty claims made about Euro V fuel economy.



                  Murvi Morocco                                 Murvi Pimento                                      Murvi Morello


As if motorhome buyers don’t have enough choices to make already, Fiat – who provide base vehicles for at least 50 per cent of conversions sold in the UK – now offer three engine options – 130bhp, 148bhp (150 Multijet) and 177bhp (180 Multijet Power). And if a six-speed manual gearbox doesn’t do it for you, there’s a semi-automatic gearbox on offer as well.

Fiat quote figures and flannel aplenty about all those options; enough, in fact, to cause brochure blindness within a matter of minutes. To really find out how these figures translate when applied to a motorhome is going to require all the engine and gearbox options together in the metal, and more importantly, on the road. Luckily, motorhome builder Murvi have all three engine variants and both gearbox options available in the guise of their Pimento, Morello and Morocco van conversions. Luckier still, Murvi agreed to lend them all to us to test.

Despite the fact that Murvi’s Rex Kneebone is about to entrust the Which Motorhome team with his entire fleet of demonstrators, he looks calm and collected as he busies between each vehicle checking tyre pressures, equipment and water tank levels. I get the impression that this isn’t a show for the press – Rex is far too natural in this evident pursuit of perfection.

From Murvi’s Ivybridge base at the southern tip of Dartmoor, the plan is to drive down through Devon and into Cornwall. We’ll take on a mix of roads from a high-speed dual carriageway through to the tight, twisty and hilly lanes that abound in this part of the world. We’ll rotate drivers between vehicles frequently so I’ll get a good feeling for how each engine and gearbox combo performs in all situations. And to prove, or disprove the lofty claims made about Euro V fuel economy, we’ll be using the time-honoured brim-to-brim technique to accurately calculate real-world mpg.




The Morocco replaces the Morello's long, straight sofa with an L-shape. The Morocco offers twin single beds (or an alternative double). Both are over six feet long, with the offside single longer, and wider once a couple of slim in-fills have been added. Both are flat and very comfortable. A double is created by sliding the two beds together – the nearside moving back on rails to meet its partner.

Twin single beds make it easy to get to the loo at night, or the kitchen in the morning for the first cuppa of the day. The Morocco’s kitchen unit is shorter to allow the nearside bed to slide across and this latest model creates a tad more space at the foot of the bed – easing access to both single and double beds.

The galley here featured no conventional oven – another cooker option has hob and big fridge below, microwave/grill above. As mentioned, the bathroom is identical and includes the ability to enter through one of the rear doors.





At more than half a metre shorter than Morello, the Pimento offers quite a bit less living space. However, dining arrangements are the same, while the bathroom is identical, complete with all its good and less good features.

Something has to give and here it's the sofa, which is shorter and loses its L-shaped end. The wardrobe now hovers above a sofa section that’s simply there to form the foot of the double-only bed. Murvi supplies a cube-shaped bedding bag to fit in here. There’s less storage space, that cantilevered wardrobe is only half-height and you get fewer cupboards and lockers in the lounge and kitchen.

The kitchen provides all the facilities of the others, it’s just smaller and shorter, so aside from reduced cupboard space, truncated worktop is the most noticeable shortcoming. Even so, this is a great motorhome kitchen and one of the best in a ‘van of this size. Heating and hot water is from Webasto’s Dualtop diesel-fired (and mains) boiler. Common to all three ‘vans are all-LED lighting and a new-and-simple control panel.




The Morello’s lounge is described as one of the best in the business – it really is that good – and compares well even with those in much larger and far more expensive ‘vans . A generous L-shaped sofa faces the side sliding door, allowing up to five people to relax and gaze at whatever view happens to be outside.

There is only a double bed option but it's easy to make. Simply slide the main sofa base forwards and a rock-and-roll mechanism allows the backrest to drop and fill the gap behind. The end section slides out, cushion drops in and that’s it. The domestic-sized bed is served by LED reading lights and that very nice TV (£550 optional extra) is ideally placed for falling asleep to a late-night movie.

The washroom is identical in all three models and presents a well-made space filled with practical bathing solutions. A very strong basin has a cupboard below, lockers above, while an – unusual – inward-opening door can be left open for easy access during the night. The shower is integral, with single-outlet tray floor.


The Pimento and the 130 engine are well matched. It is a little slow to get going, but becomes an impressive motorway cruiser, as long as there aren’t too many long climbs. This combination of engine and ’van are really well suited to cross country, B-road work. There’s just enough power and the right gearing for the job and it’s short enough to tackle the tighter turns without drama. The 150 engine and medium-wheelbase van would make a great team, but the added stability lent by the LWB, not to mention the extra room inside is a very compelling argument.

Touring for two, the Morello or the Morocco with the 150 engine would be just about ideal. The 180 engine adds £1920 to the price of a Murvi. There’s no doubting it’s a great engine, but it’s better suited to a large coachbuilt that could really do with the power. As for the Comfort-Matic, it’s expensive (£1,839) and is as likely to add frustration as it is to add driving comfort.

After a refill of diesel, the brim-to-brim mpg figures are in. The 130 engine recorded 23.4mpg, the 150 did 23.7mpg and the 180 managed 23.2mpg. For all the difference in power outputs there’s nothing in it on fuel economy. That’s one less choice for motorhome buyers to make.

This is a brief summary of an extended motorhome review of the Murvi Morello, the Murvi Morocco and the Murvi Pimento. It was published in the June 2012 issue of Which Motorhome and you can download the full magazine by clicking HERE