Dethleffs Globebus I 6 motorhome

Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato Price from: £64,590 Berths: 4 Travel seats: 4 Length: 6.95m Width: 2.20m Height: 2.81m Gross weight: 3,499kg Payload: 466kg

There are loads of single bed A-classes with a rear garage but most are around 2.35m wide. If you want something slimmer, perhaps because you find driving an A-class a bit daunting, the Globebus is one of the few options and it looks the business with the addition of the £2,850 GT Package (extra graphics, red skid plate, flush-fit windows, roof rails and alloy wheels).

The Globebus range continues in 2021 with a choice of three layouts (twin beds, an island bed, and a shorter model with transverse bed). All have the advantage that, being compact, they are realistic 3.5-tonne motorhomes.

Even with the GT’s extras, there’s over 450kg of payload, so you can make good use of the rear garage, which has two full-sized doors and a 1.11m internal height, plus width of just over a metre.

A wide habitation door makes for easy access to the living area and an electric step is fitted. The lounge has an L-settee with soft, pillow-like backrests for added luxury, as well as the two captain’s chairs, and, naturally, it all feels roomier than a low-profile Globebus.

There’s the added benefit of the drop-down cab bed, too, although – at 1.82m by 1.46m – this is a little shorter than in ‘full-sized’ A-classes. It’s still a useful addition for kids or visitors, though, and comes with its own roof vent and privacy curtains.

The main bedroom is at the back, above the garage. Here, the single beds measure 1.93m by 0.80m on the nearside and a mite smaller on the offside, at 1.90m by 0.76m.

There’s a 1.12m-long central infill cushion, so you have the full-width of the motorhome at shoulder level, and this can be extended to 1.55m if you want to convert the bedroom into a large transverse double bed (reached via a ladder).

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Whichever arrangement you adopt, it’s not possible to sit up in bed as shelves/lockers are in the way, but a plus is the folding door that partitions off the end bedroom for privacy.

There’s a wardrobe under the nearside bed, a shelved locker beneath its opposite number and a second, much taller (1.29m) wardrobe between the offside berth and the fridge.

The cooler is a 142-litre unit with automatic energy selection and forward of that is the galley. An oven/grill is an unexpected bonus in a compact Teutonic motorhome but the lack of worktop, and not even a folding flap to extend it, means dinner prep will be on the table.

If the kitchen is compromised, the bathroom shows where the priorities lie in the design. This spacious washroom department incorporates a separate shower with bifold doors, duckboard, drying rail and twin drains. There’s plenty of leg and shoulder room on the toilet, while the basin is surrounded by a useful worktop.

As with other Dethleffs models, the Globebus has a much increased spec for the UK, from cab kit such as cruise control, automatic air-con, and a leather steering wheel, to a habitation door with window and central locking, an insulated waste tank, 6kW Combi gas/electric heating, and removable carpets.

This example also had Isofix on the rear travel seat and the 140bhp Fiat engine and nine-speed automatic gearbox (the standard 120bhp motor would be rather underwhelming here).