Royal Progress

The Sovereign Deluxe was initially the boss’s retirement project. Now it’s become a new Suncamper model in its own right

Words and Images by: DES COOMBES

You might think that you wouldn’t get too attached to a motorhome when you build several a week for a living. But this time, it’s personal. Keith Harrison, managing director of Suncamper, will soon step away from the day-to-day running of his business and do something he has seen his customers do for more than 30 years – tour the country in a motorhome.

Not any motorhome, though; Keith obviously has the right job for procuring a motorhome built to his own requirements. Keith’s son Cameron is also deeply involved in the business so father and son together came up with a concept that has evolved into the Sovereign Deluxe.

While the Sovereign Deluxe began as a one-off for Keith it has had such a good response from customers that it has now earned its position in the Suncamper range. The drive-away price is $134,990 for this camper, but the one we reviewed had a few extras: reverse-cycle airconditioning, leather upholstery, extra TV and an electric auto-search satellite. Total drive-away price was $143,870.

CAB AND CHASSIS

What you drive is a personal choice as much as anything, but what motorhome you drive is restricted by what you can slide under the camper that is up to the job. While Fiat and Mercedes-Benz appear to dominate the cab-chassis offerings, they are not the only options. Suncamper will build a Sovereign Deluxe on the Fiat Ducato, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Volkswagen Crafter, Iveco Daily or Ford Transit.

Here the Ford Transit has been chosen simply because Keith prefers it for his camper.

The Transit uses the 2.2-litre Duratorq turbo-diesel engine, which develops 114kW at 3500rpm and 385Nm at 1600- 2300rpm. The engine drives through a six-speed manual to the dual rear-wheel set. The Transit has a 4490kg GVM, so it is fine to drive it with a car licence.

ON THE ROAD

The 2.2-litre turbo-diesel is a smooth and relatively quiet engine and the manual transmission shifts easily. Notable by its absence is an automatic transmission option for the Transit – you’ll have to choose one of the alternative cab-chassis offerings if you want a self-shifter. The cabin has ample storage on the dash and doors.

Like many motorhomes, this is a four-seater with the two-seat bench at the dinette fitted with lap-sash seatbelts. The Sovereign Deluxe has air helper springs at the rear with individual valves to set pressures at each side of the axle.

INSIDE

Setting up the Sovereign Deluxe for camp is not an involved process. With the electric step folded out, you’re one simple step up into the camper. On your left as you enter via the screened door, you have the control panel for water, battery and heater plus within a recessed panel the switches to activate the TV, water heater and lights.

Also installed on this recessed panel is the air-conditioning remote. On the right in the doorway is a wine glass cabinet. Once you’ve activated power and stepped up into the camper proper, all you need to do is to swivel the front seats and you’re good to go.

The layout has a Luton peak double bed over the cab (which sits on a neat, hinged gas-strut base that lifts to provide a more headroom for the captains’ chairs, a front offside dinette, mid-offside kitchen (with fridge opposite on the nearside) and the main bed on the nearside corner adjacent to the offside bathroom.

Gloomy dark interiors might be better for taking daytime naps, but, really, if you’re living in your motorhome for any period surely you want it to feel bright and cheery. If you do, you’ll certainly appreciate the bright ambience in this camper. Discrete LED lighting illuminates the camper under the benchtop and lockers as well as downlights fitted to the ceiling. Although the interior has a fair few stark white surfaces (the walls and leather seats) this is nicely broken up with timber-look cabinetry and neutral grey benchtop timber-look cabinets.

While the beautifully supple white leather seats would clean up quickly if looked after, it’s no secret they would mark easily. At least Suncamper offers plenty of different colour combinations so you can choose more muted tones if you prefer.

The hopper windows are large and help draw in plenty of light. The windows are from a European supplier but follow the same design integrated concertina principle of other such RV windows. The outward-opening windows have a staged locking mechanism to keep the window open and offer a lift-up mesh screen or pull-down block-out blind.

Two large pop-up hatches let in plenty of natural light and like the hopper windows can be screened with block-out or mesh.

CATERING

The kitchen has an L-shaped bench which is useful as you can stand next to the thin side of the bench and prepare a meal without blocking the walkway for your better half. Although bench space is not exactly overwhelmingly spacious, there are enough nooks and crannies in addition to the benchtop to make it feel quite roomy. With the fold-up glass covers on the three-burner cooktop and stainless-steel sink shut, and using the small bench to the rear of the kitchen and the top surface of the separating wall between kitchen and dinette, you’ll find quite a bit of space in which to set out your ingredients.

There are plenty of large drawers for storage below the bench and above the bench a storage locker sits to the left of the microwave.

SLEEPING QUARTERS

The forward double bed in the Luton peak is accessed via light aluminium step ladder, and (not shown in the images here) will have a security net to avoid a nasty fall off the bed at night. Two reading lights and a large storage cubby sit at the bed head. There are no windows up here; it could possibly benefi t from some natural light and ventilation.

The main bed to the rear lifts on hinges to reveal under-bed storage, which is not a large space as the external tunnel boot takes up much of the under-bed space.

The bed measures 1.9m long by 1.3m wide, although extra width can be gleaned by deleting the sideboard during Sovereign manufacture.

The night lighting is a clever feature – low LED strip lighting that can be activated by a switch adjacent to the bed when a call of nature punctuates the night.

KEEPING CLEAN

The bathroom on the offside rear of the layout has a magnetic catch opaque glass door that opens to the left to reveal a shower plate ahead of a cassette toilet to the rear (no pun intended) on a swivel base. The shower head sits high on the corner of the offside wall. The narrow washbasin is centered on the left wall above which sits the mirror. The wall itself is a false hinged wall that swings to the rear to provide a ‘cubicle’ for the shower, and to stop the toilet area from being splashed with water.

ELECTRICS

A 120 AH deep-cycle gel battery is fitted to the Sovereign Deluxe, plus a CBE CB516 smart charger – a four stage, 16 amp smart charger – with an LCD battery condition monitor, which also gives a measurement of water tank level. A reverse-cycle Truma Aventa air-conditioner is fitted on the roof and ducted through the centre of the ceiling.

STORAGE

The Sovereign Deluxe has a rear boot area accessed from a two-lock hatch on the nearside. It reveals a deep space – although not quite the width of the motorhome – that has two netted storage pockets set up high for small oddment storage plus two wall-mounted lights.

VERDICT

While the Sovereign Deluxe is not quite as lush as Suncamper’s upper-spec model the Sovereign Prestige, its simple decor has great appeal. While the Spartan look may not be everyone’s cup of tea, this motorhome certainly has the ingenuity, spaciousness and level of luxury to be a very comfortable home away from home.

GOOD THINKING