MMM – September 2019

September 2019outandaboutlive.co.uk 131

fixings/retainersfor your gear at £255)

can carry up to350kg in ahuge void

boasting 1.18mheadroom and 1.26m

maximum width at floor level. The

storage bins on the offside garage

door arevery useful for small items,

while the straps to secu re chairs tothe

rear wall are another good idea. Two

loading hatc hes arestandard but, if

you want the se cond one to be a full-

sized do or, that’s another £425.

There’s more external storage in a

skirt locker tothe rear of the entrance

door and, on the nearside, in alarger

compartment under the lounge, which

includes an areaof the double floor

and home for the leisure battery (with

room for a second).

Inside, there aretwo hatches un der

the ca rpets foracce ss into the double

floor (plus one to service the in board

water tanks), the larger one op ening

to reveal a 450mm-deep wine cellar or

shoe/boot store, which is also home+

place than most other A-classes but
mechanical din is actually better
suppressed than ina standard Ducato.
And, of course,there’s a welcome lack
of noises from the living area,too.
Performance is more than adequate
with the 150bhpMultijet motor, which
we would always recommend for any
A-class upto 7.5m.

ASSESSINGYOUR OPTIONS
The engine upgrade wasone of 14
extra cost option s added to this t est
vehicl e – plus a further fourpacks of
goodie s. All t old they add over £16k
to the price (and more than 250kgof
weight), which is not u nusual for a
top-notch German A-class butmight
be a shock if the £80,660list price is
only ju st within budget.
You might be able to live without
some of the extras but the Chassis
Package (with automatic air-con,

crui se control, additional seat

adjustment, etc, for £2,265) and

Comfort Package (Midi Heki s kylight

over lounge, flyscreen door, SOG toilet

fan, TV bracket, bedroom USB, etc,at

£1,585)should surely be standard. The

central lo cking forthe ha bitatio n door

(£340) and electric element forthe

heating (£505) aremore must-haves,

but it will be important tokeep a close

eye on not ju st the cost but the mass

of the extras if you wantto stay on a

3,500kgchassis (the test vehicl e had

been uprated to 3,850kgto maintain a

good payload).

WEIGHT THERE

Of course,with so muchstorage on

offer, a trip to the weighbridge will

be advisab le before you tour. The

rear garage (enhanced here with

chequerplate flooring at £125and

needle felt on the wa lls andadditional

“Ona cost permetre basis this Ca rthago loks expensive but

we’repleased to find omuch luxury in welunder 7m”

DANIELATTWOODEDITOR

SECOND OPINION

Carthago C-tourer I 141 LE TESTED

The second large garage door and chequerplate flooring are options

The optionaloven/grill is mounted
conveniently low down

There is masses of kitchen
storage in five big drawers