Hymer Van 374

Berths: 2 Travel seats: 4 Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato Al-Ko Gross weight: 3500kg Payload: 920kg

The compact Van 374 is based on Fiat’s Ducato with an Al-Ko chassis. It rides high, with a 35cm step height at the habitation door, which is on the continental side. These Vans are built with Hymer’s famed PUAL bodywork construction with flush-fitting, aluminium-framed windows, and a GRP skin underneath.

The 374 has Fiat’s captain’s style seats with twin armrests, plus the cup holder centre console, cab curtains and LED lights over each seat. The opening sunroof, stereo, cruise control and air-conditioning are courtesy of the Comfort-Line package.

The rear beds, and the decent lounge at the front – half-dinette, swivel cab seats, table with swing-out extension – puts the squeeze on the kitchen and washroom in the middle of the floorplan.

The limited space of the kitchen contains a two-ring hob and sink combination and an 85l compressor fridge. There’s a worktop extension in the doorway. The overhead locker is divided and has adjustment for the shelves.

The washroom has a similar, space-efficient theme. The flip-down basin over the swivel-bowl toilet won’t hold water, instead it drains away instantly via its open back.

The solid plastic floor has two plugholes. The tap pulls out for showering and a curtain extends across the basin. There’s decent locker space, and sliding hooks over the mirror, a towel holder, clothes rail and a rooflight for ventilation.

The beds have Hymer Komfort mattresses. You can’t sit up in either bed because of the excellent locker and shelf storage around the whole of the bedroom, as well as the capacious, 350kg load capacity garage below.

There’s a wardrobe in the base of the offside single, whilst the nearside has a locker. For such a small vehicle, storage is good – from cubbies either side of the low-profile section, to a drawer in the rear seat base, as well as overhead lockers.

The £46,470 ‘window price’ is precisely that. Extras fitted here include the Comfort Pack, Exterior Style Pack and Van Design 2. These are highly desirable extras, but they happily nudge you over the £50,000 price barrier. There’s also a bit of choice in terms of alternative interior colouring. Here, it’s Pico upholstery with Trentino furniture (while Samara loose carpets are from the options list).

Even at over £50k, the Van is competitive with many upmarket van conversions of a similar size and the Hymer name brings with it quality and residual value that few can match.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read the full version and more in the October 2016 issue of What Motorhome magazine. You can get a digital version of this latest issue of What Motorhome here.

Fixed single beds in a six-metre low-profile make this a unique offering.