Each month we focus on a great secondhand mainstream motorhome. We then tell you which is the best of the bunch, what to pay and which problems to look out for
used ’van buyer
The E600 range was due to launch at the same time as the start of the second-generation (X/44) Fiat Ducato. Right-hand-drive models were slow to arrive in Blighty, so the line-up didn’t actually appear until the following year (1996).
The E600 and E700 Series were the flagship ‘Bessies’, so were in direct competition with Swift’s Kon-Tiki. Both had very similar specifications and internal layouts, but they had a very different interior ambience, achieved by the designers’ clever use of different cabinetwork finishes.
From the off, these were top-tackle offerings, boasting a bonded GRP-clad sandwich construction and extensive use of (in-house) GRP mouldings on the overcab, the interfaces, the skirts and the rear panel.
The high-level specification included Carver heating and a full cooker.
Hardwood-framed Golden Cherry cabinetwork provided a warm and welcoming feel to the interior, further enhanced by the choice of Belgian designer soft furnishing fabrics.
The E600 Series launch offer comprised three models; E600 managed to creep into the important sub-6m sector.
It had a forward lounge housing a nearside inward-facing long settee with double Pullman dinette opposite, all ahead of the rear kitchen, and a washroom in the offside rear corner.
Next up in terms of length was the four-berth/two travel seat 6.4m (21’ 0”) E625, which featured a rear lounge of two long inward-facing settees separated by a chest of drawers.
Finally, the Al-Ko underpinned E695 stretched the tape to 7.26m (23’ 10”) and as a family-friendly six-berth, was a doppelgänger for the Kon-Tiki 640. Layout consisted of a forward nearside kitchen with double Pullman dinette opposite, ahead of a centrally located wardrobe and washroom, with the lounge at the rear. Interestingly, it had a 665kg payload on a 3400kg chassis. Why can’t this be achieved today? And if 665kg wasn’t sufficient, an extra-cost upgrade to 3850kg gave a loading margin of over 1000kg… wow!
Initially, motive power was from either a 2.0-litre (110bhp) petrol engine, a 2.5-litre 85bhp nat-asp
