Wandahome South Cave Swift Corniche 19/4 caravan

Take a standard Swift Charisma, add £800 to the price and call it a Corniche…the result is a special edition model with a package of extras worth £2135.

WANDAHOME South Cave has transformed Swift’s top-selling Charismas into Corniches in a number of ways. 

There’s a long list of extra equipment, some of which you can see at a glance and some of which is much less obvious. 

The suede-look lounge  is the difference that grabs your attention first. And there’s an important piece of extra equipment that’s hidden away far from view unless you need it. 

That’s the heavy duty AL-KO Side Lift jack, £100-worth of kit to make easier the wheel-changing task you hope you’ll never need to do – but it’s great to know it’s there all the same.

You also get £350-worth of alarm system, an exterior locker with mains socket, a gas barbecue point and graphics that set the Corniches apart from Charismas. And on the fixed-bed 19/4 that we tested as example of the range, you get a mattress that’s substantially thicker than the one on the equivalent standard Charisma 550.

The 19/4 (19 feet long, beds for four) has its washroom across the rear. This layout, in Corniche form, is a package that will appeal to caravanners who are looking for exceptional value as well as lots of refinements. 

Items include dimmer switches to the two big front corner lights and a mirror beside the bed, creating a grooming area with shelving below.

 

Keen cooks will appreciate the extractor fan that’s also part of the extras package. You get heavy duty corner steadies and extra bright LED lighting. 

The name’s important, too; Wandahome chose it because of the high-spec Swift Corniche range of the 1980s and ’90s.

When you’re choosing a caravan the fabrics are hugely important in selling a particular model. 

The Corniche’s combination of plain hessian-look woven seating edged with suede-effect fabric, with subtly swirling pattern on brown curtains creates a warm look that’s really distinctive and very different from Charismas. 

The 2011 Charismas have patterned fabric in a darker colour and are likely to appeal to an entirely different group of caravan buyers.

This fixed-bed, end washroom layout is the current UK best-seller; every mainstream manufacturer here produces one and some have several, so detail counts more than ever when there is so much choice around. 

Detail like the hidden TV cabinet that drops down from within the room divider, the big, granite-effect sink with plenty of working space around it, and the mains hotplate along with the three gas burners – these features are common to the Charisma equivalent. 

Charismas are well-equipped, well-priced caravans in their standard form; add on the South Cave Corniche extra equipment package and very different interior fabrics to give you a caravan of extraordinary value and bags more style.

Verdict

If you add up the cost of each item on the extras list you get to £2135, and you pay only £800 more than the basic Charisma price. That’s straightforward. And fantastic value. 

On top of that you have the visual appeal of a caravan whose upholstery quality and combination of textures looks far more Conqueror or Elite (Swift and Sterling’s top ranges) than Charisma (not that there’s anything wrong with Charisma looks!).

There are eight Corniche layouts. Whichever layout suits your needs, we think you’ll agree that the extras list and the style creates a caravan of individual and very special character.

This is what you get:

Standard Swift Charisma 550 - £14,452  
Wandahome South Cave dealer special costs  
(incl delivery) - £15,252 

Plus, extras and their value (if paid for separately):

Alarm system: £350
Omnivent extractor fan: £155
Dimmer switch for two corner lights: £180
Upgraded upholstery: £170
Ultra Comfort (deeper) mattress: £100
Doormat with Corniche logo: £20
Corniche graphics: £100
Extra mirror: £40
Extra exterior wet locker: £190
Mains socket inside extra exterior locker: £145
Gas barbecue point: £135
AL-KO Side Lift jack: £100
New, brighter LED lighting: £145
Pleated blinds to all windows: £200
Heavy duty corner steadies: £105

Total: £2135

Fact-file: 

Berths: 4
Price: £15,252
Lenghts: Body 5.50m Overall 7.29m
Width: 2.29m
Headroom: 1.95m
Weight: 1292kg (MRO) 1500kg (MTPLM)

Buy it from:

Wandahome South Cave
Brough Road, South Cave, East Yorkshire HU15 2DB.