Swift Challenger 570

WITH so many permanent-bed, end-washroom caravans out there to tempt you, a caravan’s distinguishing features are all about interior appearance  – especially as, in many cases, there is minimal difference in specification to separate them.
 
The Challenger’s dark woodwork gives it a rather sedate, cautious feel. That’s no criticism, because the bold brown swirls on the upholstery are striking.

And there’s something else very striking about this caravan – something you won’t initially notice.

Something hidden – and incredibly clever in design. It’s the television housing, which forms part of the divider between bedroom and living areas.

Provided your flatscreen television set is small enough to fit into this housing, it will disappear up into the top section of the room divider – and descend to watching level when you need it.

The mechanism is sturdy and simple. You release two clips and  then ease the whole unit downwards.

It keeps the television out of view and out of the way – and is a million miles better than head-height swivel units, on which it’s all too easy to bump your head.

The swivel mechanism that enables you to watch from either bed or lounge is the bracket onto which you secure your television. Perfect? Pretty much, in every way except that it restricts the size of the television that you can use. So, if this caravan is for you, we recommend you budget for a new, smaller television.


Swift has worked hard to cram a lot into a short length in the 570’s living area in order to allow plenty of space for a super-luxury washroom.

Ingenuity that you’ll appreciate comes in and around the kitchen area. Cupboard space in the kitchen is restricted to a slim, two-basket-drawer unit between fridge and oven.

And, in order to maximise space here, the plastic clip-on drainer and chopping board cover for the sink is housed outside the kitchen; it has its own cupboard beside the heater unit opposite.

There’s something else clever here that won’t meet your eyes instantly. The 570 has two cutlery drawers.

The small one within the kitchen-centre basket cupboard isn’t large enough for place settings as well as kitchen utensils – but Swift equips the drawer above the heater with a cutlery tray, too. That’s the perfect place for knives, forks and spoons.

Kitchen surface space is not enormous but is very workable – especially if you never use the clip-on drainer (choose campsites with washing-up facilities and this never becomes an issue anyway).

And those big, round, grey granite-look sinks that Swift now puts in all models are utterly wonderful.

They not only look classy, they’re much more practical than former steel ones; if you leave a washing-up bowl in there on tow, the mock-granite sinks don’t produce the fine ring of scratch marks caused by vibration that you often see in steel ones.

This kitchen has one further clever touch, which you’ll appreciate if you’re a keen cook. The heater cabinet top also gives you a little extra kitchen surface space – that’s because the TV housing keeps your TV out of the way.

Sitting in the 570 assessing its merits is a pleasurable experience. Great, comfortable rounded ends ensure forward comfort of the settees.

The seat bases are plain hessian-look weave. The same fabric ties plain curtains the shade of rich Cornish cream. Coffee and cream swirls adorn the backs and the three scatter cushions. (Three? Why not four, we can’t help wondering. And two cushions are larger than the third... Small things are obviously sent to puzzle caravan testers! )

Moving on to important things, you’ll notice the tall bed head that gets the plain brown fabric of the seat-back stripe, topped by some of the coffee-and-cream swirly stuff. The result is a cosy bedroom look. The mattress is deep and sprung.

On, now, down to the back of the caravan, towards one of the 570’s star features – the washroom. On the way you notice two semi-circular shelves that are in the ideal place to form a minuscule dressing table, next to the mirror beside the wardrobe. And there’s a mains socket here – so hairdryer-users are catered for perfectly.

The first thing that strikes you is the amount of space in the washroom. The second thing is the generous size of the shower, with a plain, clear plastic door.

The shower head is the trigger sort so, once you’ve set your water temperature, you just squeeze the trigger when you want water, thereby avoiding wasting any.

The washbasin is set into a cream granite-effect surface that runs the whole width from the basin to the offside corner, giving you a large shelf area.

There’s another shelf above the window and large cupboards both above the toilet and below the basin. So storage here ticks all the boxes. But there is one aspect of the little room that isn’t perfect. Had the window been about 30cm wider, the whole room would have been flooded with natural light.

As it is, on a dull day it’s a bit gloomy in here. In an otherwise top-drawer caravan with so many excellent features, we feel that its small washroom window rather lets it down.

Storage, though, comes in no small measure outside the washroom, too. Under the bed is a cavern, of course, and it’s accessible from the exterior. Over-bed storage gives you four excellently-proportioned lockers. But only one has a shelf, so that restricts the amount of stuff you can put in the other three.

Forward lockers give you a fitted drinks cabinet, a small locker beside the TV housing, one locker with a shelf, two over the front windows, one that gives you a little space above the radio/CD player – and by this time you’ve reached the kitchen...

One locker is fitted for plates or dishes, another for more plates and mugs. Two good deep shelves come directly over the work surface. There’s a microwave, of course, directly above the hob that gives you three gas burners and a mains hotplate.

* This review was originally published in the April 2010 issue of Go Caravan magazine.