Comparison test

No other manufacturer offers as much choice in the luxury rear lounge sector as Frankia. Here we compare four models, from just over 7m long to 8.6m…

Four sizes of luxury Frankia A-class – all with a British-style rear lounge floorplan

THE rear lounge is a very British thing, so how is it that German premium brand, Frankia, offers rear lounges ( Plus layouts in Frankia-speak) in four different body lengths, on two different chassis, and in overcab or A-class body styles? Clearly, they’re on to something because other German makers have added end lounges to their brochures in recent years but, before we look at the variety available here, let’s take a look at what else makes Frankia stand out from some of the larger (and perhaps better known) names with which it competes.

Owned by Groupe Pilote, Frankia doesn’t build as many motorhomes as some of its rivals and it has just a sole dealer in the UK (SMC at Newark), but it has plenty of differences to make its vehicles worth examining if you’re in the market for an over3.5-tonne vehicle. For a start, its furniture construction is impressive, with top locker doors mounted on continuous aluminium rails, which, combined with thick bookends, gives the cabinets greater rigidity. The shelves inside have metal fixings (not the usual plastic ones), complete with rubber anti- rattle devices, and taps (kitchen, bathroom and shower), as well as cupboard handles, are metal, too, not chrome-effect plastic. Even the pleated blinds, which look so familiar, are a superior fitting with a double layer and cavity insulation – try finding those anywhere else!

Frankia washrooms have glass shower doors and a mortice lock for the toilet door, while a ceramic bowl toilet is always standard and a spare cassette is provided for the loo to give you greater independence from site facilities. You’ll usually find that in the garage, which also has the benefit of a rear tailgate to make accessing

your gear so much easier. Rear steadies are always fitted, too, while habitation doors close with a rarely matched feeling of solidity and have triple-point locking.

A real USP is the wide availability of the rearwheel drive (5,000kg or 5,500kg) Mercedes Sprinter chassis on models from seven-and-ahalf metres upwards. Then, on the eight and eight-and-a-half-metre layouts, you can step up from M-Line to Platin spec for a level of standard equipment (and self-sufficiency) rarely seen without a huge spend on optional extras.

If the Mercs are too rich for your budget,

Fiat Al-Ko models (called F-Line) start at 6.45m long (7.06m with a rear lounge) and there are overcab coachbuilt versions of the rear lounge 680, 740 and 840 layouts, which typically save around £10k compared with their A-class equivalents. Then, there are Titan models (790 and 840) that give you much of what makes the Platins so special, but on the less-expensive Fiat chassis.

We took four examples from SMC’s stock of rear lounge Frankias to the nearby Hawton Waters campsite to compare and contrast – and pick our favourite…