An island bed motorhome with a family-orientated twist
ONE of our readers recently opined that the October NEC show was boring, due to the similarity of designs offered by most of the major manufacturers. It’s certainly true that, if you’re after an island bed motorhome of around 7.5m in length, you won’t be short of choice. But this new ’van from Swift has two things that you’ll struggle to find in rival ranges – an overcab bed and a sub-£70k price tag.
The appeal of the latter is undeniable, especially as it’s an on-the-road figure that doesn’t require you to add myriad options or packs. You can specify Ford’s six-speed automatic gearbox for an extra £1,795 but everything else is standard. Yes, everything including the cab’s metallic paint, the alloy wheels, front fog lamps, the 100W solar panel on the roof, bike rack mountings on the rear, blinds on the cab windows, Truma’s Combi 6 gas/electric heating, central locking for the habitation door and even external barbecue and shower points. All for £68,995.
As for the overcab – or luton – body style, this isn’t new ground for Swift. Its budget Edge range reintroduced the type in 2020 but we weren’t fans as this Fiat-based range seemed far too basic for its price. The new Voyager 4 Series not only has the advantage of the Ford cab but, remarkably, it costs less than a 2023 Edge. For a better ’van.
In the Voyager’s overcab is a bed that just tips out of the way (on gas struts) to allow an easy walk through to the front seats. Pull it down and you have a bed that can be left with pillows and duvet in situ. Crucially – and unlike drop-down beds in low-profile rivals – the Voyager’s overcab bed doesn’t interrupt the use of the lounge below, so it’s great if you want to put the kids to bed first rather than all bedding down at the same time.
There are no electrics to worry about, either, with such a simple system, but headroom up top is limited to a maximum of 56cm and reduces further towards the front of the ’van. An LED lamp and an opening window are fitted, plus a Duvalay mattress but that sits on an unvented plywood base.
Of course, the parental bedroom is at the opposite end of the motorhome. This is the 494’s star feature with a Duvalay Duvalite Alto mattress featuring a platinum support layer and reflex foam for superior durability, plus a memory fibre layer to increase airflow. It’s so comfy that you might want to sleep in your Voyager even when it’s parked on your drive but it isn’t the biggest
