Essential C-Class 2021 Review

Can you buy a stylish and roomy couple's tandem axle touring caravan on a budget? Essential Caravans says you can with its latest C-Class range.

Once an industry price leader with its Cruiser models, the Campbellfield, Melbourne maker has moved its image a notch or two upmarket with its latest models by blending a combination of style, interior décor and popular features into its new range that retain two important carry-over feature – all-Australian construction and affordability.

Witness the new 20ft 6in C-Class Touring model we're looking at here, which ticks most of the boxes for today’s travelling couples.

Built for the road

With a front-mounted north-south queen bed; a central café dinette lounge opposite a well-equipped kitchen that includes both a gas oven and a microwave; a large 190-litre three-way fridge; oodles of internal storage cupboards and drawers and a full across-the-body rear bathroom that incorporates a 3.2kg top-loading washing machine and a separate shower, plus a rear entry door, the Essential C-Class ticks most travellers’ boxes.

It also has enough water (2 x 95 litres) and adequate battery power (a single 100W battery supported by a 170W rooftop solar panel) to allow a few nights of free-camping, here and there.

And while tech types might curl their nose at the ‘old school’ leaf-spring tandem axle suspension with its beam axle and standard 50mm ball coupling, I can vouch from personal experience that a good leaf-spring set-up  is perfectly fine for crossing Australia by a range of good and bad sealed and unsealed roads.

In fact, many buyers prefer the solid feeling of a good tandem leaf spring system over a more compliant independent suspension set-up.

In short, the 20ft 6in Essential C-Class we reviewed had everything that a travelling couple needs to tour Australia these days. And if you need another battery or a second solar panel to maximise free-camping savings, these can be added.

As it was, the only option fitted to our review caravan was a 16in alloy wheel and tyre upgrade to meet Queensland buyers’ preferences, adding valuable extra ground clearance to boot.

When less is more

The truth is, as Essential Caravans points out, most travellers need far less than they pay for and most caravans sell on the tick of approval for their interior style, décor and features than for what’s underneath.

The C-Class’s appeal begins with its upright, but round cornered styling, that looks modern and allows maximum interior space, while the high-waisted black checker-plate, large Aussie Traveller windows and black graphics on the van’s light grey aluminium composite wall panels add to the visual appeal.

However the all-black rear panel consisting of gloss black upper aluminium composite and a lower gloss black plastic moulding is a real dust beacon on unsealed roads.

On the bonus side, there’s an unencumbered through-body front boot and a right-side rear generator hatch.

The wall framing is Meranti timber, which is a proven material and more compliant and lighter than the aluminium frames beloved by most Queensland caravan manufacturers. But let’s bust another myth here – timber frames don’t rot in the tropics unless the roof or walls leak and the majority of caravan roofs only leak around the holes cut for rooftop items like hatches and air conditioners.

Up front, only a checker-plate lower panel protects the C-Class from stone damage, so if you plan to do much unsealed road travel, your best option is an A-frame mounted truck-mesh stone guard.

At the rear, the single spare wheel is mounted centrally on the rear bumper, which is supported sturdily by three arms, but one spare could be enough if the six wheel stud pattern and rim offset matches your tow car.

Underneath, there’s not a lot to see without the four trailing arms. The van’s twin 95 litre water tanks have stone protection, but not the rear PVC waste plumbing. I’d be fitting some foam or carpet lagging to the pipes before a big trip...

Wow factor inside

However it’s the inside ‘wow factor’ that will sell most C-Class vans.

The layout may be conventional, but it’s an elegant, modern design with lashings of contrasting white-stitched charcoal leather – embossed and quilted on the lounge and just quilted on the bedhead – combined with on-trend timber benchtops.

The mirror behind the bedhead bookshelf helps the illusion of a roomier than actual interior, while the largest-available Aussie Traveller tinted windows lighten up the predominantly dark décor. This is further enhanced at night by the van’s upper and lower discreet mood lighting.

The overall impression is of luxury and quality more befitting a caravan costing tens of thousands of dollars more, which is entirely the point.

The interior’s standard appointments reinforce this first impression, with quality Thetford and Dometic appliances, including a full gas-fired oven and grill below the 3+1 gas/electric cooktop, a NCE microwave set at a sensible height above the big three-way 190-litre Dometic fridge and freezer and a standard 24-inch TV. Other luxury touchers are the phone charging points built into both bedside tables.

But the thing that will win many potential buyers’ hearts in the C-Class is the amazing storage space offered by its 30-odd drawers and cupboards, some also divided internally.

Then there’s a further seven in the bathroom to store as many spare sheets and towels as you like, along with a below-benchtop 3.2 kg top-loading washing machine. An oval wash basin and mixer tap sit above, plus, the queen bed lifts up to reveal more usable storage space.

It all seems a bit of overkill when you look at the review van’s just adequate payload of 430kg, which will be almost halved once you fill the twin water tanks. But as the model we reviewed has 2.8 tonne-rated axles, this ATM can easily be increased to suit the needs of individual travellers.

Other minor issues

Unfortunately this profusion of cabinet doors and drawers requires a sensible opening sequence and there were a few areas of interference on the test van, most of which could be resolved with some judicious use of sandpaper!

Amongst the most appreciated of these cupboards is the one that backs onto the café dinette to the left of the rear entry door, that combines a large timber benchtop with a nest of six storage compartments below, behind its twin cupboard doors.

All these cupboard and drawers have self-locking latches, but I found it hard to determine visually whether they were latched properly.

The rear bathroom is compact, but useable, although some larger users might wish for some extra width. But it’s well-placed, to the right of the entry door, while the fridge is straight ahead for the hungry and thirsty.

Grand plan

With the C-Class, Essential’s founder and director David Wilson is banking on a more ‘woke’ group of caravanners being more honest about their travel ambitions and focussing on style and comfort, as well as price.

He’s backing that vision with an expansive new Campbellfield, Melbourne factory that will be double the size of Essential’s current factory, with an eventual build capacity of up to 60 caravans per week.

Meanwhile, new Queensland Essential distributor Lawrence RV is following suit with a new Burpengary dealership due to open early in 2022, in which the full Essential range will share space with off-road orientated Lotus caravans, effectively offering buyers a choice of caravans priced from approximately $60,000-$200,000.

With more and more of Australia’s inland roads being sealed each year at a time when many Aussies are discovering caravan holidays, they could both be heading in the right direction.

Summing up

The Essential C-Class is a stylish, well-equipped touring caravan that achieves its low price through the use of proven ‘old school’ technology that will be all most of its target market will need to enjoy an Australia-wide caravanning holiday.

How much does the 20ft 6in Essential C-Class Touring 5.2 caravan cost?

Price: $70,465 including $975 tyre and wheel upgrade (towaway, Qld)
Travel length: 8130mm
Body length: 5690mm
Body width: 2450mm
Travel height: 2950mm
Tare weight: 2271kg
ATM: 2700kg
Ball weight: 156kg
Body: Aluminium silver composite side wall cladding over a Meranti timber frame with insulated walls; gloss black aluminium front and rear, with polystyrene wall insulation; Gold Batt insulation to roof, plus a one-piece plywood floor
Chassis: 200mm Supagal Australian steel with 50mm chassis raiser
Suspension: Leaf-spring suspension with hollow beam axles with coil springs and twin telescopic shocks per wheel
Brakes: 10-inch electric drums
Wheels: Black 16-inch alloy wheels with 235/75-15 light truck tyres
Water: Two x 95-litre fresh water tanks with filtered water tap in kitchen
Battery: 1 x 100Ah with BMPro charger
Solar: 1 x 170W rooftop glass panel with separate charge-point for portable solar panel
Gas: 2 x 9kg
Hot water: Gas
Washing machine: NCE 3.2kg top loader
Cooking: Thetford 3 + 1 gas/electric cooktop with grill and oven
Fridge:  Thetford 3-way, 190 litre
Supplied by: Lawrence RV, Brendale, Queensland
More info: Essential Caravans