Pioneer Mitchell MkII 2019 Review

How do you take on an icon like Track Trailer’s recently announced 20th Anniversary and multi-award winning Tvan hard-shell camper?

Project design engineer Cameron Brodie, who moved to Melbourne off-road caravan manufacturer Trakmaster following Gason Industries' purchase of Pioneer from Atco-Pickering in May last year, explained it to me simply:

“We re-imagined many of the Tvan’s best features, improved on others, then innovated.”

That formula was re-applied to the Pioneer entry-level Wilpena, the up-specced Mitchell and the just-announced Mitchell Platinum hardroof camper models when Caramax (the new RV division of family-owned Ararat-based farm machinery and slow combustion heater manufacturer Gason Industries), added Pioneer to  Trakmaster earlier this year.

As a direct competitor for the $100 cheaper 20th Anniversary Tvan Zenith. the $76,820 Mitchell Platinum comes fully loaded with options like stainless steel wheel arch protectors, 1000W Redarc pure sine wave inverter, an up-sized 175-litre pantry, 2 x 75-litre underbody external wet lockers, a Truma gas space heater, an additional Sirocco 12v interior fan, two MaxTrax recovery tracks and premium alloy 16-inch wheels.

Expanding the off-road range

The benefit of acquiring Pioneer was twofold: to increase Trakmaster’s volume and profitability from being purely a custom off-road caravan builder and to enhance Pioneer’s bottom line and market appeal by sharing chassis and suspension components and Gasons’ sheet metal manufacturing expertise across the two brands’ complementary platforms.

Initial Pioneer production under Gason concentrated on completing 26 existing Pioneer orders last year, but today there's up to 75 per cent ‘Caramax’ in the latest Pioneers – and it shows.

The 2019/2020 Pioneer models now coming off their new Trakmaster assembly line in the outer-Melbourne suburb of Bayswater, have been further refined by Brodie and his team, with notable upgrades to their durability, finish and features.

For a start, they now sit on Gason’s, Ararat-built galvanised steel chassis – a scaled-down version of the ‘Extreme’ underpinnings beneath Trakmaster’s mainstream caravan models and also ride on Trakmaster’s in-house designed Trak 2 two-tonne trailing arm, coil spring and telescopic shock absorber suspension.

Double the durability

Indicative of the Pioneer’s durability upgrade under Trakmaster, this suspension has been validity bench-tested to have double the durability of the previous Pioneer system.

Wheels and tyres are now common to both Trakmaster and Pioneer models, with six-stud, Black Track steel (or optional Premium alloy) rims fitted with BF Goodrich  KO2 A/T 265/75-16 tyres.

All sheet metal on the Pioneers is now stamped, folded and powder-coated to a high finish level by Gason in Ararat, while the previously weighty 120-litre stainless steel fresh water tank has been replaced by a locally-formed, larger (125-litre) and 30kg lighter poly water tank.

Also read: Pioneer Mitchell 2016 Review

A stroll around the 'Mitchell by Trakmaster' review camper revealed other smaller detail changes, such as the standard, sturdy ARK 750 height-adjustable swing-up jockey wheel, that can be used as a front towing or winching point in extremely muddy or sandy terrain, and the removal of the rear pod storage locker door, which was a problem dust-entry point of earlier Atco-Pickering-built models, based on dealer and customer feedback.

“We really had the opportunity to re-evaluate the entire design, from hitch to tail," explained Brodie. “It was a unique opportunity for an engineer to revisit a design and we made the most of it to improve the product in many ways, keeping a weather eye on the latest Track Tvan and Vista RV models.”

Taking it to the Tvan

The result is a smart, compact hard-shell pop-top camper that at a similar overall length as a Tvan (4950mm versus 4900mm), 30mm wider (1950mm versus 1920mm) and the same travel height (2050mm) gives potential buyers the happy choice of another similar-concept and similar-packaged vehicle.

Weight is one area where the two brands differ, but here you need to compare specs closely.

The latest Mitchell, now with a Trakmaster weighbridge-verified tare weight of 1535kg and a payload of 465kg, is around 400kg heavier than the latest Tvan Zenith 20th Anniversary model when fitted with a front boot, but has 110kg less payload. It’s not a lot, but every kilogram can count if you’re trying to scale a big dune on the Canning, or a muddy creek bank on the Cape’s Telegraph Track.

Price is another point of difference. At its RRP of $69,990 it’s $6540 more than the original Atco-Pickering Mitchell price, meaning that the latest Pioneer is intended to be taken seriously when compared with Track’s Tvan range, although the review Mitchell undercut the more comprehensively equipped Tvan Zenith’s $76,720 RRP.

All in the details

However there are other distinctions that could influence some buyers’ choice.

While the latest Mk 5 Tvans, with their easier access via the tail to the sleeping area, make overnight stops on the way to warmer places a lot faster and easier, the Mitchell’s appeal from the outset is that it's even faster to set up.

While you can access the Tvan’s bed by opening the pod floor and lid, you need to erect the rear tent of the Mitchell, as the canvas tent section is sewn into the pod’s top-hinged fibreglass lid, whereas it drops down in the Tvan.

Burt if you want the extra comfort and privacy of the tent, it’s faster to deploy with the Mitchell. Pop the top, lower the floor, sit on the end of the bed and swing, then tension the rear spreader bar to erect the canvas and the job’s done. Two minutes for one person is Pioneer’s believable claim. And if it’s raining, most of your work is done under cover.

Yet while both canvas sections are locally made by different companies, the one on the Tvan looks a sleeker fit when fully erected.

Liveable interior space 

Where the Pioneer Mitchell also impresses is in interior space, with the rear-hinged fibreglass pop-top delivering more headspace and ventilation above the bedhead, aided by a zip-down  front window in the pop-top’s skirt, Sirocco 12v fan and two top-hinged Perspex side windows that open outwards at 45 degrees, allowing more airflow than sliding glass side windows.

The new Pioneers also incorporate some neat new features. One is the front storage locker designed to house three 20-litre jerry-cans safe from stone-strike and theft, with rubber buffers built in to avoid them rubbing on corrugated roads and potentially leaking.

The standard twin 9kg gas bottles are also protected on each side by re-paintable stone shields; the spare wheel winds down between the chassis rails, keeping weight as low as possible and there's a standard 50-litre wood box above the 500-litre front through-body storage box that's large enough to hold a portable fridge on one side and a generator on the other.

Another shallow front locker can house the Mitchell standard side awning that can be erected to cover its outdoor kitchen area.

Inside, there’s a lot more storage space under the lift-up sprung-mattress Queen bed, with more space in metal-lidded bedside lockers to house smaller items.

The outdoor kitchens in campers like these are a major part of their appeal and the one in the Pioneer won’t disappoint. After pulling it out from the camper’s body, it reveals a stainless steel sink and other pantry and pot drawers. The cooking module, with its two gas hobs, pulls out from the right side of the kitchen to clip onto the Pioneer’s body. Separate drawers beneath this section serve as convenient cutlery storage.

When it comes to towing, the Mitchell barely made its presence felt behind our Mazda BT-50 crew cab ute and you get the feeling that it will be your choice of tow car, not the Mitchell, that will be the weak link in any extreme off-road expedition.

Summing up

Under its new ownership, the revised Pioneer Mitchell benefits from Trakmaster’s reputation for building strong and reliable off-road, remote area vehicles and Gason’s expertise in sheet metal fabrication, together representing a combined 40 years of Australian manufacturing expertise.

The result should put the Pioneer Mitchell high on the shopping list of anyone looking for a high-quality, lightweight hard-shell camper.

2019 Pioneer Mitchell MKII

Travel length: 5300mm
Body length: 2900mm
External body width: 1950mm
Internal body width: 1850mm
Travel height: 2050mm
Tare: 1535kg
ATM: 2000kg
Ball weight (Tare): 159kg
Body: 1.2mm Zincanneal and 2mm thick marine-grade powder coated aluminium over a welded and riveted aluminium frame with fibreglass insulation. Fibreglass pop-top roof and rear pod.
Chassis: Heavy duty hot galvanised 100mm x 50mm steel chassis.
Suspension: Trak 2, two-tonne rated independent trailing arm coil spring
Brakes: 12-in Al-Ko electric drum brakes
Wheels/tyres: Black Trak 16x8in steel rims/265/75-16 BF Goodrich KO2 AT
Water: 1 x 125L rear poly tank
Batteries: 2 x 120Ah deep cycle AGM
Solar: Roof-mounted 1 x 80W polycrystalline solar panels
Gas: 2 x 9kg
Hot water: Truma gas
Cooking: Stainless steel slide-out external kitchen with two-burner cooktop
Fridge: Provision for portable fridge-freezer on slide in A-frame storage box
Shower: External hot/cold
Lighting: LED
Price $69,990
Supplied by: Trakmaster Off-Road Caravans, Bayswater, Victoria
More info: Pioneer Campers