Mountain Trail moves up market

Albury, NSW's Mountain Trail, which built its reputation for Australian-made RV quality on the back of its hard-floor camper trailers, has now tackled the other end of the towed RV market with a new full-width luxury off-road tandem caravan that made its debut at Melbourne Leisurefest.

The new 22ft, LVX 6.7 joints the smaller single axle 4.7 and 5.7 metre tandem axle off-road models in the expanding Mountain Trail hard-roof caravan range, but its significant point of difference is its full 2.5 metre width, compared with the narrower, but more bush-able 2.1 metre body width of its shorter siblings.

Mountain Trail's Nick Edwards said the move further up-market represented the growing direction of the Australian caravan industry, where an increasing number of buyers wanted the go-remote ability of a proper off-road caravan, without necessarily sacrificing space.

This works on the principal that many buyers who have $163,000-plus to spend on a caravan like the LVX 6.7 will have already done demanding off-road travel in smaller RVs, but still love the remote area lifestyle.

Edwards said Mountain Trail is aiming at the top end of the off-road caravan market with the new LVX, with rivals such as ZoneRV and mid-sized Bushtracker models in its sights in terms of build quality, living comfort and features.

In keeping with this aim, the Mountain Trail LXV 6.7 is beautifully finished and loaded with luxury features that include adjustable height airbag springs on trailing arm tandem suspension, a two-position electric awning that deploys in five seconds, dust pressurisation and an external fold-down door that doubles as a drink and food bar as well as an entertainment hub offering full Bluetooth connectivity.

Inside, the cupboards feature novel pressed aluminium construction with folded aluminium framework, saving weight up high where it matters, while being more durable in rough terrain like corrugations than fibreglass or timber equivalents.

It also comes equipped with a four-burner gas stove, grill and oven as well as a microwave and a separate shower and toilet in the large rear bathroom.

Opposite the kitchen is a 208-litre compressor refrigerator and a full height slide-out pantry for extended remote area living. Twin tanks with a combined 210 litres of fresh water capacity, an impressive 480AH of lithium battery power, 540 watts of roof-mounted solar and a 3000-Watt inverter complete its top-shelf specification.

To complement its outdoor living promise, the full-length kitchen has been positioned in front of a large, opening window, offering owners the ability to pass drinks and canapes directly to the outside food and drink bar.

To boost the LVX 6.7's starting price of $163,500, available options include 18-inch alloy wheels (instead of the standard 17-inch wheels) shod with 285/60 AT tyres ($1650); a roof-mounted satellite TV dish ($4500); a wall-mounted front-loader washing machine ($2200) and a front boot-mounted off-road bike carrier ($1600).