Swift Rio 325

Berths: 3 Travel seats: 4 Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato Camper Chassis-Cab Gross vehicle weight: 3,500kg Payload: 662kg

Swift’s Rio arrived a year ago to take on van conversions with a similarly sized coachbuilt.

Here, then, is a six-metre motorhome with slimline width (2.26m – a bit wider than Bürstner’s Brevio) and a garage.

It looks good. The gloss black grille, beautifully integrated overcab sunroof and LED daytime running lights all shout ‘21st century’.

But this Rio goes without the model’s former trademark feature – the rear tailgate. There’s just a single, conventional garage door on the nearside that’s compromised by being shaped around the wheel arch.

On the plus side, garage headroom is a generous 1.20m. Or it can be just 690mm: the bed’s height is controlled by a key and switch at the end of the kitchen.

With the bed on its lowest setting, access is easy, thanks to a neat pull-out step under the slim wardrobe. Reading lights and stereo speakers are well placed and there’s masses of room to sit up in bed. All that changes with the bed set in its highest position. The lights now point at your ears and the bed is virtually reduced to a single by the lockers. The message is clear: arrive at the campsite, unload your bikes immediately and lower the bed for a good night’s kip.

That done, you’ll be able to enjoy cooking up a variety of nosh in the capable kitchen. Worktop space is reasonable, thanks to a fold-up flap by the door. But the fridge is not as capacious as its litreage suggests and low-level storage is a bit lacking.

The washroom looks smart, with its mint green highlights and deep basin, but the tap has to double up as a showerhead. You’ll have to fight with a curtain, but it’s less confined in here than in many a van conversion’s bathroom.

The lounge is a simple half-dinette, two swivel cab chairs and a petite wall-mounted table. Best feature is the giant, opening overcab sunroof, although the winding mechanism on this prototype was stiff.

The rear seating does come with two three-point seatbelts, while a grandchild might be quite happy with the compact bed formed from the half-dinette, table, driver’s seat with topper cushion and an infill. You’ll want to stow the extra cushions in the garage, rather than the wardrobe, which is slim.

This is an abridged version of the full review appearing in the October 2015 issue of What Motorhome.

There’s a well-stocked kitchen, sand the rear bed is versatile, but not having a rear tailgate means this ’van misses out on what was its USP.