LMC Innovan

The Innovan caravan must have been LMC’s best-kept secret; few people in this country could have known that such a caravan existed.

As soon as you set eyes upon it for the first time, you have to start wondering how such a visually arresting caravan could ever have been kept from the public gaze. 

But there is a reason. If you wanted to buy one in Germany it would cost you a staggering €27,280 which, at current exchange rates, equates to £29,865. Hardly surprising then, that no British dealers fancied their chances of pushing that to the price-conscious UK caravan buyers. 

But what if you could get your hands on a brand-new, 2008 model for under £10,000? Now, suddenly you become interested…

At the time this review was published in Which Caravan magazine (December 2009 issue) Elite Caravans of Blisworth, near Northampton, had pulled off a spectacular buying coup and offered a limited number available at a never to be repeated price. 

As its name suggests, the Innovan is truly innovative, both in the design and in the applied technology. 

Critics of “the white box on wheels” will be well and truly silenced when presented with its completely original and beautifully constructed form. Abandon all previous thoughts on what a caravan is supposed to look like and how it is laid out; the Innovan goes, literally, back to the drawing board. 

Although its body length is only 4.40 metres, it actually appears much smaller due to its streamlined nose cone. 

You might think that design had been given far too much prominence over efficiency in an effort to impress, but the clever interior layout actually makes a virtue of those sweeping lines. 

In common with many German caravans there is no front window, yet in this case it simply doesn’t need one. 

Instead, you have the benefit of one of the largest rooflights of any caravan on the market. The rounded side windows might seem rather small when viewed from outside, yet when you are in the lounge, they are more than adequate. 

If any single feature is going to reel in the buyers it is the electrically controlled air suspension, specially developed by LMC in collaboration with Al-Ko. 

On tow to Cosgrove Park for the photoshoot the suspension absorbed every bump and slope in the uneven roads, eliminating pitching and rolling. 

The suspension can be adjusted with a handset from outside the door, lifting and lowering the caravan to allow a ground clearance ranging from eight to 35 centimetres. 

This can either allow low wind resistance and super-stable towing on even roads, or protect you from bumps and scrapes when negotiating potholed roads or speed humps. 

The icing on the cake is that this ability to lower the overall height to 2.10 metres will enable many people to store the Innovan inside their garage or car port.

So now for the layout. The restricted height of the caravan’s nose cone is taken up by a lateral, fixed single bed. 

It is designated as a child’s bed, but capable of accommodating an adult. Parallel sofas adjoin this at each end, allowing you to make up a total of three single beds, or by lowering the pneumatic pedestal table, create a large double bed. 

The next feature that takes you by surprise is the enormous rooflight above the lounge. 

This is the key to the success of the interior ambience, which could otherwise have been rather gloomy. Instead, you luxuriate in a conservatory atmosphere which spreads beyond the lounge into the kitchen area. 

What I had first thought was ambient lighting at the beginning of the rear bedroom turned out to be a series of attractively designed storage holes. 

The large wall lockers are reassuringly sturdy and attractively textile-lined. The lounge and front bed section is raised up on a double floor, which creates another storage area underneath. 

Much of the ancillary equipment is tucked away under the front bed, including the 44-litre fresh water tank, the Truma heating system and the battery. 

Adding to this, simply press a button at the end of the washroom and out slides a bracket on which you can mount a 17in flatscreen television in a perfect viewing position. 

The kitchen is to your right as you enter. There’s no oven but plenty of storage space instead. 

There are three burners and the worktop is quite generous for a caravan of this size. The kitchen cupboards, as with those throughout, have been created from a high quality dark wood that has been given an attractive slatted effect. 

There is a power point above the window, so a portable electric cooker, would be an ideal accessory if required and the 86-litre refrigerator ought to be sufficient for most people’s needs. 

A powered cooker hood adds the perfect finishing touch and it has two spotlights to illuminate the worktop area.

When I first saw the Innovan I assumed that it probably wouldn’t have a proper washroom and thought that a Porta Potti was as much as one could hope for. I was wrong. 

I don’t quite know how they have made it possible, but this isn’t simply a token washroom; for its size it has to be right up there with the best, enhanced by high-quality wood panelling on all sides. 

So many washrooms flatter to deceive, with superficially attractive fixtures and fittings that don’t stand up to close inspection. This washbasin is of the currently popular raised variety, supplied by an elegantly curved mixer tap. 

The furniture is of the same high standard as that found in other parts of the caravan, with a bisected, circular mirror mounted on the bathroom cabinet. 

It suddenly struck me why this seems so incredibly classy – there is no shower and so no shower tray, allowing a plain, wood-effect vinyl floor. I feel that most people will be very happy with this small compromise. 

Fact file:

Axles: 1
Berths: 3
MRO 1150kg
MTPLM: 1300kg
Width: 2.29m
Overall length: 5.47m
Headroom: 2.14m.