MMM – September 2019

122 outandaboutlive.co.ukSeptember 2019

C

ompact front lou nge van

conversions havelong been

a mainstay of the British

motorhome scene. This lay out’s

popularity has wanedin recent years,

with more emphasis on rear lounge

’vans, but Devon’s 5.4-metre Colorado

and six-metre Arizona show that the

concept still has appeal.

Devon, based in County Durham

since 1996, unusually, has converted

all of the key base vehicl es (though its

current range do es not incl ude VW or

Renault). In its Ferryhillfactory an d

showroom you’ll see Mercs (Vito and

Sprinter),Fords (T ransit and Transit

Custom) andthe Sevels (Fiat/Peugeot/

Citroën) in three different lengths.

Plenty of choice, then!

The Colorado, based onthe

medium-wheelbase Sevel, comes with

either three or fourtravel-seats. The

traditionally-desig ned three-seater

has an offside set tee, combining with

the nearside rear travel-seatto form

a six-foot-l ong transverse doublebed.

But the fou r-seater, tested here, has a

more novel layo ut.

MEDIUM, OBVIOUSLY

The medium-wheelbase Sev el (here

a Peuge ot Boxer), is an obvious

choice for acompact ca mper, being

straight-sided and wide enough to

give adequate space forfurniture,

occupants and h oliday cl obber. It’s

also robust and (after over a decade

of productio n) most, if no t all, of the

design bugshave been ir oned out.

Importantly, it’s reasonably cheapfor

the converter to buy, straightforward

to work on and inplentiful supply.

It does come with one m ajor

headache, howev er – the height of

the cab seats, up ontheir platform,

comparedto the lo wer, main body of

the van.That’s why most front lounge

designs on this base vehicl e havethe

sametransverse bed layout as Devon’s

three-seater Colorado. But, what if

a six-foot bed is too short? Or if you

wantto carrytwo rear passengers, not

just one? Then that design isn’t foryou

• andthere aren’t many alternatives.
  To conjure up a practical layout
  allowing cab seats to be incorporated
  into full-sized, longitudinal beds
  requires some ingenuity. The resulting
  layo ut includes two rear travel seats
  set higher than normal – the offside
  one on a cu rving plinthwhich ties
  in with the cab platform andthe
  nearside with a built-in footrest to
  avoid dangling legs. These combine
  with the swi velled cab seats to make a
  pair of si nglebed s.
  To the rear, as in the traditional
  three-seater model, there’s an offside
  kitc hen, with wardrobe, fri dge and
  washro om opposite, and anaisle
  givingaccess to the rear doors.

This version of theColorado is unusualinits class in having four travel seats