Aussie by Design Humpback Smart Van

Making Waves

It's easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of new vans on the market today, and if you visit a large showroom or a caravan show, it can be hard to know where to start. At times like this, potential buyers benefit from recommendations by people they trust, in particular from those who use their van regularly and have first-hand knowledge of its pros and cons.

Good caravan companies get a large amount of business by word of mouth, and Aussie By Design, an SA company owned by Ian Dutschke, to some extent banks on it. It doesn't have a dealer network, and all the vans are built to order.

A SA country boy born and bred, Ian has a background in farming which has given him a lifetime of experience working with his hands. Ian's interest in building caravans started a few years ago when he sampled what was available on the market. "I wanted to do a tour around Australia," Ian said, "so I started building a caravan of my own; I wasn't happy with it so I built another. I ended up building eight. I was soon getting telephone calls from dealers who had these extra vans because people wanted them. At this point I thought I'd give up farming and build caravans."

With plenty of money invested, and two years spent travelling Australia testing out his caravans on the road, Ian is well placed to advise customers.

"I can build what people want as long as the van remains user-friendly," he said. "I include a national warranty with each van, as well as safety instructions, maintenance advice and even where's good to go in Australia after all my travels."

GOT THE HUMP
All the vans are made in Melbourne after the orders are taken from Aussie By Design's Port Wakefield office and showroom, about one hour north of Adelaide. We paid a visit to the showroom on an untypically wet and cold day in this normally drought-stricken region, and were greeted by cheery staff who were proud to show off their products.

The caravans come in 5.5m to 9.1m (18ft to 30ft) sizes, depending on your needs. The 8.7m (28ft 4in) Humpback Smart Van we reviewed has a rear hump built into the design, which accounts for its name.

"The humpback helps the van to stay stable while on the move, by pushing the back of the van down," Ian says. "This stops the suck-in sensation when you're passing trucks, and as a bonus, you don't get road dirt on the back of the van."

Built on a 6in DuraGal chassis, the Humpback Smart Van is made up of a meranti timber frame with smart-looking aluminium cladding for the sides, rounded off with a checkerplate base surround. Suspension is an Al-Ko Rocker load-sharing setup, and point of contact with the road is through 235/75 R15 tyres wrapped around attractive 15in alloy wheels. There are electric drum brakes fitted to each wheel as standard.

The large front boot is also checkerplated for protection and is galvanised on the inside, and there's a tunnel boot, which stores a long picnic table. There is external LED lighting, an external shower, Dometic awning and Manutec drop-down jacks, and the drawbar is of good extended length, with two 9kg gas cylinders securely mounted on top and a heavy duty jockey wheel below.

An optional backpack rear tent section designed to fit all current Aussie By Design models is in production, and will be available soon. The backpack rear tent will fold out to provide a spare room from the caravan's rear – ideal as a place for kids, friends and entertaining or even as a tax-deductible office. It will fit four people and a fridge, require minimal assembly with only one bow to push up, and is expected to take about four hours at the factory to install.

MOVING IN
As you enter the Humpback Smart Van, you'll notice that it has a good layout, plenty of features and an appreciable level of quality: this is truly a van built by someone who is used to living on the road. The well-lit and cosy interior looks fine, with modern furniture, good-looking vinyl floor and a checkerplate entry step.

The kitchen area greets you first and features rolled benchtops, a stainless sink with flick mixer and oodles of cupboard space that is well placed. There's a good-size Swift four-burner stove/oven combo and a Sanyo 17L microwave for cooking, and while the Dometic three-way 150L fridge may not be the biggest available, it will suit many and leaves room on top for the well-placed widescreen TV.

The lounge and table are a bit on the small side, but for two people, it's absolutely fine. As standard, Aussie By Design provides a large picnic table for outside use, and this proved perfect for our large group. Even with the rain pouring down, we were well protected by the awning.

Keeping the lounge and table small does, however, allow plenty of room to move inside the van, something that is extended into the bedroom. There are four mirrored wardrobes in here around the queen-size bed, with plenty of space surrounding it. User-friendly design is high on Ian's agenda, and it's certainly in evidence here.

The same applies to the separate wet room at the van's rear. Thanks to the high humpback, there is a good feeling of space in here, and the sink area, cupboards and mirror are all of excellent size. A Thetford cassette toilet is comfortable to use, and a fibreglass-reinforced shower with glass door is also very accommodating. As a real bonus in the bathroom, Aussie By Design vans of this size come with an NEC washing machine as standard.

Speaking of standard items, the list is fairly impressive with this Humpback Smart Van. Also included in its $73,150 (on road) price are the likes of twin 80W solar panels, a satellite system, Dometic air-conditioner, alarm, CD/radio with DVD player, four-speaker stereo and a Winegard aerial. In fact, pretty much all is there to ensure you'll be in great comfort and entertained while on the road or at a park.

As for more standard features, the fluoro and LED lighting inside is good and three 95L freshwater tanks with aluminium protectors provide ample water supply. All powerpoints are well situated and the pair of batteries is backed up by a charger and the solar panels.

THE BOTTOM LINE
With an ATM of 3000kg and a Tare of 2500kg, the model we tested is best for the larger 4WDs, and certainly Aussie By Design's mighty Ford F250 had no trouble on the rough and smooth terrain we towed it on. With seven different sizes of caravan on offer, however, you can buy according to your vehicle's towing capacity.

The caravans the company produces are well thought out and indicative of a builder who has experienced many months inside a caravan and knows what the customer is likely to need.

As mentioned before, you won't see Aussie By Design vans on dealer forecourts, so your best bet is to do what Ian advises: talk to an owner about their experience with one of the vans, take a look through it, and judge for yourself. After all, you can't beat word of mouth recommendations.

I WOULD HAVE LIKED

Aussie By Design,
Highway 1,
Port Wakefield, SA 5550.
For more information, phone (08) 8867 1223.