A compact campervan with a shower and toilet
THE Kelsey – which is built in Westfalia’s French factory alongside the Kepler and Jules Verne models and Fleurette/ Florium motorhomes, rather than in Germany – is an unusual and keenly priced campervan. Based on the long-wheelbase Ford Transit Custom, it comes as standard with features such as front fog lights, blown-air heating and a hot water system, but it’s the layout that is the real USP.
At the rear it has a bench cassette toilet and a shower (with covered tray lightly recessed into the floor), but first you’ll need to undo a couple of straps and lift the front-hinged poptop. That also gives access to the roof bed, with its generous 1.91m by 1.19m mattress on Froli springs for super sleeping comfort. Unusually, there’s a ladder to reach the bed more easily, too.
When not in use, the bed base is hinged to increase headroom up front – it’s 1.66m just aft of the cab but a whopping 2.24m in the shower area.
A shower curtain press studs into place but only reaches up to the level of the roof bed, so you’ll shower sitting down – and have to be extra careful to get the water to go into the tray, not all over the floor. Rather more practical is the inclusion of the cassette toilet, which has a decent amount of space around it (but it’s best if you’re under 6ft tall). Alongside the loo is the wardrobe, which has a long drop (98cm) but is only 31cm wide.
The kitchen runs right down the offside of the ’van, concluding (opposite the toilet) with a raised 51-litre compressor fridge above storage, including provision for two Campingaz cylinders. Further forward, the unit contains a Can two-burner hob and sink above a pair of wide drawers. There’s a neat slide-out storage unit at the forward end of the galley, too, as well as a good worktop area for food preparation.
Even the lounge is unusual, with a movable footstool and a rear bench that’s well-shaped as a passenger seat, as well as the expected swivel cab seats. The fitting of sliding side doors on either side is a further bonus but only one of these (the nearside) has an opening window.
When dining, you’ll extract the table from its storage position on the rear tailgate and the leg from the wardrobe but the 93cm by 61cm tabletop is just too big for a small space; it’s better suited to (free-standing) use outside. The lounge feels so much more spacious without the table, while the footstool is a neat addition and the twin side doors are best appreciated in hot weather. Under the bench seat is the Combi boiler but this does seem to rob you of a lot
