Frankia F-Line A 840 Plus

Berths: 4 Travel seats: 2 Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato Al-Ko Gross weight: 5,000kg Payload: 1,050kg

Rear lounge layouts in a coachbuilt motorhome are no longer the sole preserve of UK manufacturers, although, in truth, they never really have been.

It’s just that it’s easier to find an end seating group in a British brochure than amongst the myriad variations of fixed beds – single beds, island beds, transverse beds, French beds – that dominate abroad.

Frankia is, however, the leading exponent of rear lounge floorplans in Germany and offers them in overcab, low-profile and A-class body styles, in sizes starting with its sub-seven-metre T 69 FF2 model in the entry-level (but still rather luxurious) Selection range and ranging up to big tag-axles.

Like this new-for-2017 A 840 Plus in the F-Line series – that’s ‘F’ for Fiat. And ‘A’ for Alkoven (the German word for an overcab coachbuilt) although this layout was first shown in A-class format. If you want an A-class, it’s an

I 840 Plus – ‘I’ for Integriert.

What’s unusual here, though, is the style of the rear lounge. Parallel settees and U-shapes – even L-shaped sofas – we’re used to. Here, the lounge is ‘C-shaped’ and you won’t find anything like it in any UK-made motorhome.

C-shaped? Yes, it’s even more of a wrap-around than a U-shape, with seats facing in four different directions, all curved around a central (permanent) table. The photo above explains it best.

There are windows on three sides and a big rooflight is sited above and, in continental style, there are net curtains, too. Corner headrests complete the seating, while the lounge also backs onto the kitchen, thus sociably including the hard-working chef in pre-dinner conversations.

The kitchen itself is Frankia’s MaxiFlex unit with a two-burner gas-on-glass cooker and a third burner hidden under a removable worktop panel – neat! 

There’s also a Tec-Tower with an oven over a tall, two-door fridge/freezer, while the sink comes with a cover (more flexibility, more worktop) and a small drainer.

The main bedroom is in the luton but, like much of the rest of this motorhome, it is unconventional.

Here, you’ll find lengthways single beds, a huge rooflight and a proper fold-away staircase for access, rather than a hard-on-the-feet narrow-runged ladder.

The real beauty of any F-Line Frankia, however, is under the skin. From the Al-Ko chassis to the heated double floor (adding lots more storage) and the garage under the rear lounge, this is a motorhome built for long-term touring.

Expect around a tonne of payload, too, as long as you don’t get too carried away with the options.

Features of the A 840 Plus include two gel leisure batteries, a central services hatch for access to all the electric/water points in one convenient location, Alde ‘wet’ central heating, dimmable interior lighting and even a spare toilet cassette.

There are eight interior décor schemes to choose from, as well as options from base vehicle spec to satellite TV systems.

If you want to impress, you can also go for all-silver bodywork, including the cab and the whole Frankia motorhome body.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read more in the May 2017 issue of What Motorhome magazine.

You can get a digital version of this latest issue of What Motorhome magazine here.