Group test

The whole eight-model range of Peugeotbased campers from Auto-Sleepers goes under our spotlight

IT all started 60 years ago when the Trevelyan family, with two young boys, decided that a campervan was what they needed for a holiday in the South of France. That toe-in-the-water Morris-based conversion was built in 1961 but it was the second, an Austin, that resulted in the first retail order and the formation of Auto-Sleepers.

Throughout the 1960s and early ‘70s, poptop campers based on the Commer van were the mainstay (the Editor’s family owned a yellow and white 1976 example) but soon coachbuilts joined the line-up, as well as a wide range of different base vehicles. Quickly, the company developed a reputation as being a bit more ‘premium’ than its mainstream British rivals but while production grew – up to 850 vehicles per year currently – it has never left its Cotswold home in the picturesque village of Willersey.

It couldn’t remain a family business forever, though, and it was eventually swallowed (along with sister retail company, Marquis Leisure) by the Trigano Group, which is one of Europe’s largest leisure vehicle producers.

While other makers are often more focused on coachbuilt motorhomes, Auto-Sleepers has never left behind its campervan roots and, today, over half of its production is accounted for by the campervan range. That’s the eight models reviewed over the following pages, all of them high-tops and all of them based on the Peugeot Boxer. However, an exciting new development is the return of a pop-top (see This Month, page 6).

Perhaps that loyalty to Peugeot goes back to those early Commers, which are a very distant cousin, but, if you want an automatic gearbox in your camper, then Auto-Sleepers also offers the Fiat Ducato sister van as an alternative (£2,000 extra with 140bhp, £3,000 with 160bhp). The spec and the interior are identical across both

chassis. In either case, it is the window van that’s the base, so you get tinted athermic glass windows right along each side for a more automotive look that you won’t find elsewhere. The opening sections are in fixed positions, though, so suit some layouts better than others.

GOING PREMIUM

As you’ll see on the following pages, there’s plenty of choice in terms of floorplan and you can opt for medium-wheelbase (5.41m), long (5.99m) or extra-long (6.36m). There are two and four-berth layouts, as well as models with two, three or four seatbelts. Each one comes with Peugeot’s 165bhp engine, in addition to a vehicle tracking system, driver and passenger airbags and a choice of three metallic colours (see above). All models also get an underslung gas tank (for cheaper refills and easier continental touring), a choice of two upholstery styles (each in five different colours) and Grade III insulation. Completing the all-season camping compatibility is a Whale blown-air heating system mounted underneath the vehicle, while the Winter Pack adds concertina cab blinds, wheelarch insulation and heater blankets for the underslung water tanks (69 litres fresh, 40 litres waste).

What no Auto-Sleeper campervan will ever leave the factory without is the Premium Pack. This adds an integrated DAB radio with sat-nav, alloy wheels, semi-air suspension, cab airconditioning, a Thule canopy awning, colour reversing camera, cruise control and an 80W solar panel.

If you want to upgrade further, the Media Pack (£995) adds a Mecatronic 65cm automatic satellite dish, while habitation air-conditioning (£1,000) is also becoming increasing popular.