MMM – September 2019

138 outandaboutlive.co.ukSeptember 2019

R

apido has format taking a British

classic (the rear lounge layo ut)

• andgivin g it a un ique, French
  twist. Not so muchfish and chips with
  garlic sauce, waymore appealing,like
  roast beef with Dijon mustard, its
  8094DFis, in many ways, what you’d
  hope and expect a British A-class to
  look lik e (if only...) – a nd, as a result,
  it has been one of the company’s best
  sellers here.
  Now, Rapido is repeatin g the recipe
  with a ca mpervan.
  So, here’s the world first road test of
  a Dreamer LivingVan. The ‘by Rapido’
  badgestell yo u all you need to know
  about its parentage, forDreamers are
  built in Mayenne, France, on the same
  productionline as Rapido Vans. There
  are clearsimilarities in décor, too,
  incl uding the solid wood edging and
  maple finish of the Prestige furniture
  seen here (Rapido makes all of its own
  cabinets). But Dreamer only builds

campervans and its expanding line-up

features innovative layouts not offered

by t he parent brand.

Many continentalmakers have,

however, come unstuck when trying

to interp ret tastes on this side

of the Channel, so it’s good that

Dreamer involved its dealers inthe

development of the Living Van.

And, the result is not j ust a copy

of the many rear lounge campervans

already on the market – it has features

you really won’t find elsewhere.

D-DAY

What you wil l find everywhere in this

sectoris, of course, aFiat base vehicl e.

This, though, is our first full test of the

latest Euro 6d Ducato – anearly ri ght-

handdrive one, too.

Dreamerjumpsstraight to the

140bhpmotor forits more upmarket

Select range (which includes the

LivingVan). However, our test vehicl e

had been upgraded to the 160bhp unit,

which comes as standard with the Eco

Pack (Stop & Start and a 200ASmart

alternator). With 400Nmof torque, it

certainly wa sn’t short of grunt fora

lightly laden 3.5-tonne ’van –perhaps

it’s that effo rtlessness t hat resulted

in the im pressive economy on test of

almost 29mpg.

New motor aside, you’ll need

SherlockHolmes’ in vestigative

abilities to spot the changes to the Fiat

cab. Unlike the latest Euro 6d Ford

Transit, there’s no new dashboard or

grille s o, unless you spot the power

output badge on the offside fr ont

wing, you’ll be none the wiser... until

you op en the fuel filler flap and se e

the se cond cap forthe AdBlue. To

meet the latest emissionsstandard,

the Ducato has hadto fo llow suit with

the rest o f the market, so there’s now a

19-litre tank forthe urea-based liquid.

The comfortable rear lounge has storageonthe offside and underfloor, gas on the nearside andanexternal shower