Free Spirit 17ft Custom

WHAT WE LIKED

• One-piece honeycomb flooring
• Cold rolled one-piece chassis rails and fibreglass sandwich construction
• Excellent internal and external storage

NOT SO MUCH

• Limited space around dining table
• Lack of small internal kitchen

True, game changing innovation doesn’t happen very often in the Aussie RV industry, but that’s what Queensland’s Free Spirit Caravans is aiming for.

Free Spirit director Ralf Brosch and his team are dedicated to providing “lightweight, long lasting, tough and very capable offroad vans”, just like the company’s custom-built 5.21m (17ft) Free Spirit I recently took for a trial run on the Sunshine Coast.

With its new owners hailing from the ‘Territory, this van needed to suit a range of travelling requirements, from acting as the base on weekend hunting trips, to a home-away-from-home for extended family camping.

So hitched up to a dual-cab Holden 4WD with 3.5-litre V6 engine, we headed off into the wide-open spaces of the Australian outback to see how it shaped up...

NEW INVENTORS

Towards the end of 2010, Free Spirit decided to reduce the weight of its vans by using a strong, yet lightweight, aluminium chassis. In order to solve the potential problem of an aluminium chassis giving way at welded joints, the manufacturer patented its one-piece chassis built from cold rolled aluminium – no welded joins along the main chassis rails.

Looking for further innovation, Free Spirit also patented a method of incorporating aluminium framework within the composite walls during the fibreglassing process. This means the aluminium framework is an integral part of the wall structure, rather than added later.

The plumbing and all of the necessary electrical wiring is laid in channelling and fibreglassed within the wall during construction. This provides greater durability and longevity because the electrical cabling is well protected and less likely to move or rub when the van is rattling along some rougher roads.

Even after all of these new designs, Brosch’s team kept innovating. Out went the company’s standard aluminium flooring, and in came a high-impact-resistant one-piece floor. This stuff will take some solid knocks.

Speaking of knocks, a generous and robust stoneguard provides plenty of protection for the exterior wall panels that would normally cop the occasional belting from a low hanging branch or a rock flung from a tyre.

LET’S GO OUTSIDE

This off-road Free Spirit is all about outdoor living. Facing some typically tropical NT conditions, the buyers demanded some exterior comforts. Consequently, Free Spirit’s design could best be described as a camper/caravan hybrid.

"This is like a campervan within a caravan," Brosch said. "Having a whole pull-out kitchen, this van has enough facilities to allow for a long period of camping without re-supply."

The pull-out kitchen means there’s no kitchen inside the van; the entire kitchen, including bench, fridge, freezer, cooker and pantry, is outside.

Also on the outside are incredibly large water and dustproof storage bins, generator storage space and a hot and cold shower. These features may seem excessive, but they’re perfect for the style of camping the owners enjoy.

Three large solar panels and two 9kg gas cylinders mean you shouldn’t run out of power or gas in a hurry. And with a capacity of 350 litres, water won’t be a problem.

CATCHING THE BREEZE

On the inside, this van is ready to tackle the tropics, with rain sensor fans allowing heat transfer and cross drafts on those hot days, while also removing the need to watch the weather – they close up on their own when it starts raining.

An Aircommand air-conditioner also helps keep things cool.

With the kitchen on the outside, the inside of this van is geared largely towards dining and sleeping. Two sets of twin bunks sit in the middle of the van and a queen-size bed is permanently set up at the front.

At meal times, the bunks fold to form two bench seats at the very sturdy slide-out aluminium table.

A good-sized shower/toilet combo sits in the rear offside corner.

Given it’s primarily designed for remote camping, it makes sense that this van uses low-consumption LED lights inside and out. There are even underbody LEDs, which are sure to help you see that croc sneaking up on you from out of a tropical billabong.

Any travellers keen to get well off-road to do some hunting need not worry about the safety of their weapon – the van includes a gun safe secured by two separate electronic combination locks.

WORK AND PLAY

If you need to get some work done while you’re out camping – and many people do – this van features a whizz-bang mobile office, complete with laptop dock, printer, wireless internet, wireless mouse and keyboard.

When using the laptop, all you need do is sit back with the wireless keyboard and mouse and use the TV instead of your laptop screen. This means your workstation is essentially wherever you sit inside the van.

The TV aerial boosts the Next G signal for mobiles and internet.

VERDICT

With so many similar caravan and camper trailers being rolled out every year, it’s refreshing and exciting to see some genuine innovation and outside-the-box thinking.

This van can cater for all kinds of travellers, from quick weekenders to long-term offroaders and while its exterior kitchen design might not be for everyone it must be remembered it’s a custom design and could have any number of features changed or specified at the design stage.

Either way, it’s hard to deny that as a company that prides itself on originality and can-do design, Free Spirit is rapidly making a name for itself.

FREE SPIRIT 17FT CUSTOM-BUILT

Overall length: 7.21m (23ft 8in)
External length: 5.21m (17ft)
External width: 2.4m (7ft 10in)
Internal height: 1.96m (6ft 5in)
Tare: 2580kg
ATM: 3300kg
Advised ball weight: 235kg
Hitch: Vehicle Components DO-35
Frame: Aluminium framed one-piece fibreglass
Chassis: one-piece aluminium
Suspension: Independent coil
Cooktop: Galleymate custom-made slide-out barbecue
Lighting: Low voltage LED (touch on/off)
Fresh water: 350 litre
Toilet: Thetford
Gas: 2x9kg
Price: $145,000 (tow-away, Qld)
Supplied by: Free Spirit Caravans, Qld