Five years after its debut, this rear lounge campervan gets some useful improvements and a choice of chassis brands
Words & pictures ❚ Peter Vaughan
Five years ago, there wasn’t a great deal of choice if you wanted a campervan based on the Volkswagen Crafter, so Hillside was a bit of a trailblazer with the Heatherton and, soon after, the much more successful Hopton. But then came Covid and the world – and the world of motorhomes – changed forever.
As Fiat struggled to supply the leisure industry with anything close to the numbers of panel vans it wanted to satisfy a seemingly insatiable demand, campervan manufacturers looked for other marques to convert – and many have cottoned on to the appeal of the big VW – and its twin sister from the same Polish production line, the MAN TGE.
In the past year, I’ve tested new MAN ’vans from Adria, Dormobile and WildAx, and others now building on the Crafter/TGE include 8 Ball Camper Conversions, CJL Leisure, Dirty Weekender, Globe-Traveller, IH, Knaus, Vanworx and Westfalia. Then, of course, there’s Volkswagen’s own Grand California (in two sizes). But the majority of these models cater for the fixed bed market and many are based on the long (6.84m) panel van.
Perhaps now is the perfect time, then, for Hillside to relaunch its Hopton, with some useful updates but retaining the 5.99m overall length and rear lounge that are so intrinsic to its appeal. For the first time you can now also choose – as a no-cost option – either a VW or MAN logo on your Hopton. And, with many of the models mentioned above knocking on the door of £100k (or more with a few options), it’s good to see Hillside still competing directly with lower-cost Fiat-based rivals, thanks to a starting price of £71,995.
NOT JUST FLANNEL
The truck maker’s first foray into LCVs might just be a rebadged VW but it’s also great to drive. And, by choosing a TGE-based Hopton over a Crafter version, you gain automatic lights and wipers, LED courtesy lights in the living area and access to a service network that works longer hours for its HGV customers.
Unsurprisingly, if you cover up the lion logos, you’d be convinced that this was a Volkswagen. It has that solidity in its interior plastic trim and the way the doors thunk shut, as well as familiar fonts and switchgear. Everything from the nicely integrated 6.5in touchscreen (for DAB, phone, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) to the radio and cruise control switches on the wheel will be recognisable to owners o
