A'van Jenna HT 624

WE LIKED

- Easily accessible bed and electrics
- Bright and light interior
- Decent sized family fridge

NOT SO MUCH

- Obtrusive wall fittings
- No front window or larger side windows
- Small drawers in kitchen

Once the cornerstone of the RV market, the family caravan in recent years has taken more of a backseat to layouts designed for grey nomads.

This creates a potential problem for dealers who may not have the appropriate stock when families come strolling into their yard.

Of course, it's always possible to get a van custom built, but that doesn't always suit the family budget.

However, there are still family vans around, of course, and the A'van Jenna is a very good example of a full caravan built for a travelling family.

SMOOTH ROLLER

With a body length of nearly 6.4m (23ft) and a Tare of 1880kg, the Jenna is eminently towable and doesn't require a beefy tow vehicle, so a Ford Falcon will easily do the job.

Like all A'van products, the Jenna has a hot dipped galvanised chassis riding on tandem axle leaf spring suspension. The chassis' punched hole cross members provide a good strength to weight ratio, while also allowing access for the electrics and plumbing. 

Above the chassis, the body doesn't have a frame as such. Instead, a sandwich panel wall construction is used, with an aluminium outer skin. Moulded fibreglass panels are used fore and aft.

The windows aren't the usual Seitz units, but rather the Dutch-manufactured Polyplastic, as is the Hartal stable door with an upper opening window and lower bin.

For exterior activities, the Prostor awning keeps the sun and rain at bay, and a wall light and a single 240V powerpoint provide illumination and power.

The front boot houses nothing except empty space – the battery and associated electrics are inside the van.

EUROPEAN FEEL

On the inside, A'van uses what's known in the trade as the "Euro look": a light hued timber with curved doors for the overhead lockers.

It makes for a pleasing look, with the exception of the wall fixture covers on the front and rear nearside wall – these may need to be there, but look like something of an afterthought.

The Jenna's relatively simple layout has the main bed across the front, kitchen bench along the offside, nearside dinette, rear offside corner bathroom cubicle and two bunk beds on the opposite side.

The van has no front window, and the two side windows are relatively small, which makes the bedroom feel smaller than it really is.

That said, there isn't really a natural light problem – the big marine hatch above the bed lets in plenty of light and fresh air, so it's just a slight issue with positioning.

An L-shaped lounge is used for the dinette. Although this is a four berth van, the fourth person is going to need an extra seat – otherwise it's going to be squashy.

Three overhead lockers, plus two shelves in a very handy position close to the door, sit above the dinette.

A'van's simple electrics panel – 12V switch, battery and water gauge LED monitors – sits under the lower shelf.

The kitchen features a Swift four-burner cooktop/grill alongside a stainless steel sink/drainer, and is surprisingly compact for a family van. The family-sized 175 litre two-door fridge takes up a good deal of the space.

General storage consists of three overhead lockers, two cupboards (one with two drawers) and a large drawer for pots and pans. Halogen downlights illuminate the bench quite well.

BEDDING DOWN

In a van designed for a family, the sleeping arrangements are a key design feature. Up front, the main bed measures 1.88 x 1.35m and has its head against the offside wall.

The person on the rear side of the bed gets a bedside cabinet, but the inner sleeper gets a small front wall shelf and foot-of-bed cabinet.

Although it's not a full island bed, the inner sleeper doesn't have to climb over their partner to get out of bed.

Halogen downlights supply the general light and LEDs are used for the reading lights.

Much of the under-bed storage is taken by the house battery, charger, water pump and plumbing, and this is also where the 12V fuses are located. The free storage space is a little hard to get at, but it does feature a handy offside external door.

Two bunks, measuring 1.79x 0.76m, should accommodate the junior family members quite well, and each sleeper gets a window and an LED reading light.

A floor hatch gives access to the storage under the lower bunk, and a full wardrobe with hanging space, shelves and four drawers sits between the bathroom and the bunks.

The bathroom features a flexible hose shower, bench-style cassette toilet and a clever little moulding that contains a fold-down sink, small shelf and a shaving cabinet.

Given it's a wet environment, the bathroom doesn't have a hair dryer/shaver powerpoint, but there's one on the outside wall, albeit awkwardly located on the wrong side of the opening door.

VERDICT

There's no denying that family caravanning isn't particularly cheap, but the A'van Jenna represents reasonable value as a caravan that will accommodate two adults and two children, and can be towed by a family sedan – rather than a large fuel guzzling 4WD – so there should be no need to splash out on a new vehicle.

Of course, the family might have to travel reasonably lightly, but in these days of taking everything but the kitchen sink along for the ride, that isn't such a bad thing.

A'VAN JENNA HT 624

Overall length: 7.32m (24ft)
External length: 6.33m (20ft 9in)
External width: 2.39 (7ft 10in)
Travel height: 2.82m (9ft 3in)
Interior height: 1.9m (6ft 3in)
Tare: 1880kg
ATM: 2280kg 
Ball weight (advised): 130kg 
Chassis: Hot dip galvanised
Suspension: Tandem axle leaf spring
Cooktop: Swift four-burner/grill
Fridge: Dometic RM7851 175 litre
Microwave: LG
Shower: Flexible hose
Toilet: Thetford bench
Lighting: 12V halogen/LED
Gas supply: 2 x 4.5kg
Fresh water tank: 2 x 95 litre
Hot water: Truma 14 litre
Price as shown: $53,990
More info: A'Van Campers & Caravans