Auto-Sleeper Warwick Duo
THE alternative six-metre model to the Symbol Plus is the Warwick Duo. The Warwick name indicates a rear lounge, with the first model of this type having introduced an end lounge in a camper in 2008, or the first time since Auto-Sleepers’ Volkswagen LT-based VX10 of four decades ago!
Of course, today, rear lounge campervans are a popular part of the UK market. You don’t get any rear travel seats but you do benefit from a seating area that’s spacious and entirely separate from the cab. Indeed, the cab is redundant as soon as you arrive at your campsite. There are no swivels on the front seats.
Instead, this ’van is all about the settees in the stern and the layout becomes especially attractive when the sun has got his hat on and you can shout ‘hip, hip, hooray’ as you fling open those barn doors. A choice of coffee table on a centre pole (kept in the wardrobe) or bigger freestanding table, which can also be used al fresco, increases the versatility of the space, while rear speakers and a large rooflight are part of the fully appointed spec. Reading lights feature, too, and are of the clip-on/clip-off type that can be positioned where you like.
An overhanging wardrobe on the nearside reduces seating space whilst still allowing fulllength beds. If you want to sleep singly, it’s just a quick job to jettison the backrests and have nearidentical twin beds (1.88m by 0.69m and 1.90m long with the same width) – the wardobe dictating that heads go to the rear, by the back doors. As in the two Symbol models, there’s a double bed option, too, and it’s almost square at 1.90m by 1.85m.
Unusually for a floorplan like this, the washroom is adjacent to the sliding door, while the galley is behind the driver’s seat. The ablutions include a bench cassette loo (with generous leg and shoulder room), a tip-up basin and a curtain for showering.
But it’s the kitchen that benefits from AutoSleepers swapping the galley to the offside. The cook will love a unit that measures a whopping 1.67m from end to end, with plenty of preparation space without recourse to flimsy flaps. There’s no tall furniture on this side of the Warwick Duo, so you get a clear view from sofa to cab, while spec again includes the Triplex cooker, microwave and extractor hood. Better still, there’s a large pan drawer as well as four small drawers, so this model is certainly one for keen chefs.