Matilda Euro

By Malcolm Street

Matilda Motorhomes is well known for its fully moulded fibreglass motorhome bodies. Until recently, the Matilda range consisted of several models built on a light truck chassis like a Toyota HiLux, and larger motorhomes typically built on an Isuzu truck chassis.

There was always something of a gap in the range, caused by the lack of a medium-sized motorhome based on one of the European truck chassis.

In an interesting move, Matilda has designed a new motorhome based on a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 413 chassis. Some of its larger motorhome design concepts have been retained, but the use of a flat floor chassis has allowed new developments, particularly in the front area behind the driver’s cab.

On the road

Benz Sprinters are very easy to drive and the Euro Esquire is no exception. Despite the diminutive size of the 2.2 litre turbo diesel motor, it’s a very willing performer and will respond quickly in most driving situations.

Naturally, long uphill runs will slow things down a bit but apart from that, the Sprinter keeps up with the general traffic flow easily.

Instead of the time-honoured sprint shift gearbox, this Benz came with a dash-mounted, fully auto, five-speed gearbox. Sprinter seats come with multiple adjustments, so with a bit of fiddling, it’s not hard to find a comfortable seating position.

External mirrors give a good rear view, but I always feel they should be larger and have a convex mirror for spotting alongside traffic.

Our review vehicle was only number two off the production line and was a little bit bouncy in the suspension department, but the Matilda team tells me this matter is already under review.

There was a towbar fitted but I’m not sure I’d want to be towing much, particularly given the length of the rear overhang, which did hang quite low.

More to store outside

There’s no doubt that Matilda’s fully moulded, fibreglass motorhome bodies are very smooth-looking, with attractive flowing lines aided by the curvy, lower-waistline paint job. Even around at the rear, the common ‘boxy’ look is negated, indeed the rear ‘bay window’ look is an impressive achievement.

All windows are the Hehr hopper variety but are angled, thus giving a slight marine appearance. The door is also a Hehr item, with a separate screen door. It would be nice to see motorhome builders, not only Matilda, making more use of a full security screen door.

Around the outside of the Euro, there is no shortage of external lockers; along the nearside there are two – the front one contains two 9kg gas cylinders, and in a separate compartment there are plumbing fittings including two water pumps and a simple valve setup for both filling the water tank and using mains pressure supply. The rear locker is available for personal storage, as is the matching one on the offside and the rear boot.

The nearside is even more equipped with Suburban hot water heater, locker for the house batteries on a slide-out tray and a taller-than-usual locker that contains a standard-item 2.5kg washing machine. It’s probably worth pointing out that most of the lockers have a new stainless lock and their frame design - which incorporates a bit of boat-building technology - makes them considerably waterproof and leak-proof, according to Matilda. For outside seating, the Fiamma awning provides good shade and there is also an external light.

Swivel shtick

Both driver and passenger seats are able to swivel around – in conjunction with the dinette behind the driver, this makes a very effective lounge/dining area at the front of the motorhome and is the first thing one sees when stepping in through the entry door.

Along the nearside is the kitchen bench area and opposite is the fridge between the dinette and bathroom. In the rear is the bedroom with a north-south bed; it’s certainly worth mentioning the interior height – at nearly 7ft (2.12m), it has to be one of the tallest around. This does create a problem for shorter people though, as the overhead lockers are very high.

For the internal decor Matilda has retained its impressive-looking full timber cabinetwork from the Henry/Bradstreet range, which includes timber pelmets; the new velour upholstery fits in quite well.

Kitchen design is fairly standard in the Euro with a Smev four-burner cooktop plus combined grill and oven underneath. Alongside is a decent-sized stainless steel sink, with hot and cold water supplied by a Flick mixer tap.

The sink and cooktop don’t leave much benchtop working space; however a hinged flap is fitted to the end of the kitchen bench.

General storage is quite reasonably in the Euro: the hanging cupboard, between the kitchen bench and the rear bedroom, not only has hanging space but a shelf above and three drawers below.

Under the sink are four drawers, one of which is for cutlery, plus a single-door cupboard. A larger drawer is located underneath the oven; in addition there are two overhead lockers, the space for the third taken by the all-essential microwave oven. Bench lighting is provided by a single downlight above the sink plus the twin lights fitted into the slimline rangehood. Also tucked under the overhead locker are both a twin and single powerpoint.

Opposite the kitchen bench, it’s good to see a decent-sized 110 litre fridge – a much better size to cope with long distance touring.

No space wasted

It’s always a plus in my mind when a manufacturer makes effective use of every part of a motorhome, including the front driver’s cab area. Not all cab chassis allow it easily, but the Euro’s Sprinter chassis has made full use, with both seats swivelling around to form an efficient lounge area. The driver’s seat swivels to meet up with the table behind, so there’s seating for three at the table.

Most of the driver’s cab roof has been cut away, but what is left forms a neat wraparound shelf. (On this particular unit, the timber edging hangs too low for tall people sitting in the front seats – I’ve been informed that on later models this will change.) The shelf does act as a good mounting point for the 15in flat screen TV, which can be seen from the rear bed, if your vision is good.

In the rear the bedroom is similar to the design in the Henry/Bradstreet range: central chamfered queen-sized innerspring mattress bed surrounded by classy-looking timbered cabinetwork and overhead lockers. The chamfered shape of the bed gives a good walkaround space on either side.

There is no shortage of storage in this area, with eight overhead lockers surrounding the bedroom, bedside cabinets with three drawers plus shelf and two angled cupboards in each corner at the foot of the bed.

Hopper windows on three sides give good ventilation and light and they have both sheer curtains and full curtains for night use. The wooden pelmets are a nice finishing touch.

Some smaller motorhomes suffer from a small, bang-your-elbows kind of bathroom, but this isn’t one of them. It comes complete with a flexible hose shower that includes a classy-looking showerhead, separate vanity sink with hot and cold taps and the usual Thetford cassette swivelling toilet. A Fiamma fan hatch provides the ventilation and a fluorescent the necessary lighting.

Utilities

Cooling is provided by a roof-mounted Aircommand air-conditioner above the bed in the rear of the Euro and there is an additional roof hatch at the front of the motorhome, with a Winegard antenna for travelling TV viewers.

Lighting throughout the Euro is 12V, and generally halogen lights. Most of the lighting switches are by the entry door, at a convenient height when inside the motorhome but I’d have liked to at least have the outside light and step overhead light switches down lower.

There are two halogen reading lights above the dinette but none above either of the cab seats. Mounted in the ceiling are two downlights, one above the dinette and the other above the entry steps. A powerpoint near the table for laptop users would be useful.

Halogen reading lights and centrally-mounted downlights offer a good amount of brightness and there’s a powerpoint on either side of the bed. In addition, the nearside angled cupboard has two powerpoints, presumably for a second TV.

Summing up

We all have different design preferences for our dream motorhome layout but I particularly like the Euro’s front lounge/rear bedroom setup.

Space is effectively used, the interior decor is attractive and impressive and all necessary ‘extras’, like additional house batteries and the washing machine, are already built in.

Given that our review model was only second off the production line, there were a few items that needed to be fine-tuned. Nevertheless, I was unsurprised to learn that Matilda already has a number of orders for its new Euro, because it will certainly be a winner for the company.

Thanks to the Coconut Caravan Resort on Bruce Highway, South Cairns, Qld, for the photo shoot location. We stayed at this five-star park and it comes recommended. Bookings: freecall 1800 636 622.