Fortitude Fortress 2020 Review

How much should you spend on a fully-equipped, 19ft off-road caravan that will take you to most of Australia’s greatest remote area hot-spots, across all the corrugations and then back?

Brisbane RVs says $67,990 for its home-brand 2020 18ft 10in (body length) Fortitude caravan fitted with the optional Fortress Off Road upgrade. And unless you're planning to carve a deep-groove across Australia over many years with your rough-road travels, it’s hard to make a case why you should spend a dollar more.

That’s dealt with the price, which while important for most of us, is just one part of the purchase equation. Choosing the manufacturer of your remote area ‘home’ and who and where to purchase it from, are equally, if not more important if you value things like integrity, support and resale.

Built in Melbourne, sold in Brisbane

The concept of 'custom-built in Campbellfield, sold in Queensland’ is not unique, and has some real customer benefits. Because Campbellfield is the unquestioned ‘home’ of Australia’s caravan manufacturing industry, it has expertise, capacity and price competitiveness on its side. And as Fortitude caravans are built exclusively for Brisbane RVs, service and support is ‘local’ and convenient for buyers.

Brisbane RVs was a long-standing family business and one of the stalwarts of the Queensland retail caravan industry before it went into voluntary administration in April 2019 with debts of more than $5 million. Some customers reportedly were left in the lurch after paying approximately $550,000 in deposits for new caravans prior to the wind-up.

But that was ‘yesterday’. Former sales manager Steve Tauzowski and his silent partner, a sergeant in the Queensland Police’s Financial Crime Squad, have since re-opened the gates at the prominent Bruce Highway, Burpengary dealership after purchasing the rights to use the Brisbane RVs name.

The re-awakening of Brisbane RVs also involved Tauzowski renewing the dealership’s association with 21 year-old Victorian caravan manufacturer Safari to build its house-branded Fortitude vans.

It’s a good outcome, with Tauzowski telling us that the dealership now carries no debt, has no finance company-backed floorplan and that all caravan deposits go securely into a trust account to ensure they're protected in the event of any unforeseen trading issues. He says only a handful of Queensland caravan dealers offer this sort of reassuring customer protection.

Tauzowski’s other endearing credential is that he's a caravanner himself and enjoys holidays with his young family in a 22ft 6in Fortitude Eveready bunk van. The latter is a detail that’s important to me, as only by living in a caravan can you truly understand and iron out all the niggling little things that can drive you mad on a long trip.

Sweating the small stuff

It also helps Tauzowski to be specific when instructing Safari on small details that might otherwise be missed when constructing the Fortitude Fortress caravan.

Little things, like rounded end-cupboard edges that might otherwise scar your scalp, and the true 6ft 6in (1950mm) length of its north-south lift-up queen bed with its standard pillow-top mattress.

Then there's the very generous 2006mm interior headroom, that's not impacted by its standard Dometic Ibis 4 low profile air conditioner, and lots of interior and exterior LED lights; including exterior ‘panic’ lights on each side, front and rear.

We also liked the way all its piano-hinged internal cupboard lids line up exactly when open, the easy access to the dual 120W AGM batteries, and the standard grey water tank and a drinking water filter with separate taps.

Many of these items will be found on the extra-cost option column of rivals' off-road vans, but are standard on the Fortitude with the Fortress upgrade.

More than just 'stick and tin'

Although it presents as a conventional Campbellfield, Victoria-built caravan, with its Meranti timber framed walls clad with 3mm aluminium exterior cladding, closer inspection of the Fortitude Fortress soon identifies the detail experience behind its design.

A Cruisemaster DO-35 off-road hitch sits at the head of the van’s 300mm-extended drawbar, which is an extension of the same 150x50mm-diameter steel as its Victorian-built FP galvanised steel chassis.

There's a further 100mm riser between the chassis and its tandem AL-KO Enduro Outback coil spring and twin shock absorber trailing arm independent suspension to increase its ground clearance.

The extended drawbar makes room for a truckmesh stone-shield ahead of a large checkerplate toolbox that's partitioned internally to allow room for a portable generator on one side and for general stuff like ground-matting, hoses and cords on the other. Pity there’s no provision for a wood rack on its top-opening lid though.

If you're looking for more storage, there’s a cavernous through-body boot just immediately behind.

Notwithstanding the capability of the suspension and the van’s 16-inch alloy wheels shod with LT245/75-16 off-road tyres to iron out corrugations, the most impressive thing I found under the Fortitude Fortress was the extensive shielding and convoluted lagging of all of its stone-vulnerable plastic water and waste pipes, including the drain pipe from the van’s standard grey water tank.

It’s a welcome detail often overlooked on many so-called ‘off-road’ vans except for those built with first-hand, off-road travel experience.

You’ll also find the twin 120AH AGM batteries that come with the Fortress option in separate under-chassis checkerplate steel boxes just rear of the tandem wheel set on either side of the van, where they're well-shielded from stones and can easily be accessed.

Twin jerrycan holders also flank the single spare wheel on the Fortitude’s rear bumper.

Well-placed entry door

The centre entry door just ahead of the axle set, is also thoughtfully placed, as it's far enough rearward to minimise the chance of sleep-walkers stumbling down the entry step and allows plenty of movement around the front north-south bed.

It has a couple of features my wife would appreciate – two grab handles – with one combined with an entry light on the outside and the other on the left, inside.

Other evidence of clear thinking based on experience is the way the lounge window to the right of the entry door is located off-centre to allow it to flip out when the door is latched open, and the large bedroom window to the left of the door will also open fully to clear the front awning arm when it's in the travel position. It's amazing how many caravan designers miss little things like this!

The front bedroom area is well lit by its two large Dometic windows, so there’s no need for a front window and the leather padded bedhead with its storage pockets for magazines and books is a much better idea.

Three-quarter robes on each side of the bed, with nests of drawers below and three large cupboards above, should be enough to hold all your travelling clothes. Plus, there’s lots of storage below in two large partitioned compartments when you lift the front-hinged bed.

Choice of layouts

If you opt for the 18ft 10in Fortitude, you get the choice of two interior layouts – the one with a centre door fitted with a café dinette to the right of the door opposite the kitchen, or you can specify a rear entry door (which many people prefer because it gives immediate access to the across the rear separate shower and toilet bathroom that's common to both versions), in which case you get an L-shaped lounge on the van’s right hand wall.

An advantage of the café dinette is that you get two swing-down foot rests, whereas the L-shaped dinette has only room for one. Both seating configurations have a central table and plenty of 240v and 12v power plugs.

The kitchen, with its higher-than-normal 1000mm bench heights, is slightly longer on the café-dinette version, but both include a four burner Thetford cooktop and grille. There are separate sink taps for water from the Fortitude’s twin 90-litre fresh water tanks and another to dispense filtered drinking water.

A mirror-fronted dLuxx microwave oven sits uncomfortably high above the buyer's no-extra-cost choice between a three-way or 12v compressor 184-litre fridge-freezer.

Neat electricals package

Overhead cupboards line the upper walls of this central living area, with the one nearest the entry door housing the van’s BMPro battery management system, with gauges showing the level of charge from the standard twin 150W rooftop solar panels, plus the head unit of the CD/DVD four-speaker entertainment system.

So when the cupboard is shut, there are none of those annoying LEDs visible to keep you awake! Another thoughtful design is that all drawers glide on steel rollers and are held shut on corrugations by locking buttons.

Moving further back we find the compact, but well-appointed bathroom, which has loads of storage cupboards and drawers, a top-loader washing machine beneath the hinged lid of the right hand vanity benchtop, and a cassette toilet opposing a good-sized shower cubicle with a water-saving shower head on the opposite wall.

Of course, the final acid test is how well the van tows and in this respect the Fortitude also scored top marks. With its reasonable Tare weight of 2417kg and 228kg ball load for an off-road van of its size, it towed confidently at posted highway speeds behind our Land-Rover Discovery 3, with its independent suspension untroubled by road irregularities.

Backed by a three year warranty, it should give you all the confidence you need to take off on an extended lap of Australia.

Summing up

Brisbane RV’s 18ft 10in Fortitude caravan with the Fortress off-road option is a well thought-out, well-equipped and well-priced off-road caravan for all-road travel that will have you questioning why you should spend more.

Specs: Fortitude Fortress 18ft 10in 

Travel length: 7900mm
Body length: 5800mm
Body width: 2450mm
Travel height: 3100mm
Interior height: 2006mm
Tare weight: 2417kg
ATM: 3290kg
Ball weight (Tare): 228kg
Body: Meranti timber wall framing with 3mm smooth aluminium cladding
Chassis: 150mm x 50mm galvanized A-frame and chassis with 100mm riser
Suspension: AL-KO Enduro Outback-coil independent tandem trailing arm
Brakes: 10-inch electric drums
Wheels: 16-inch alloy wheels with LT245/75 off-road tyres
Fresh water: 2 x 90l fresh water tanks, plus grey water tank
Battery: 2 x 120Ah AGM
Solar: 2 x 150W rooftop glass panels
Gas: 2 x 9kg
Hot water: Anode-free gas
Cooking: 4 gas burner Thetford
Fridge:  185l 12v compressor, or 3-way
Shower/toilet: Separate internal
Lighting: LED throughout
Price: $67,990
Supplied by: Brisbane RVs, Burpengary, Queensland
QLD 4505