By Malcolm Street
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One of the more interesting developments in the caravan industry over the last few years is the rise of the luxury van. For many years, the humble caravan was regarded as, shall we say, holiday accomodation for families on a budget – but much has changed.

While comfortable budget caravans are still readily available, it’s the other end of the caravan economics scale that has moved onward and upward.
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There are several reasons for this. Retirement is looming for many people and travel comfort expectations have risen accordingly, the general fittings and fitout of caravans have improved considerably and self-contained travel is becoming more popular.
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A number of manufacturers are now building top-end vans. One such van is the subject of this review – the Regent Brentwood. CW’s review van came from 7th Street Caravans at Boolaroo, NSW, and while the Brentwood is available from other Regent dealers, Aiden Saggers, 7th Street dealer principal, was keen to point out that a number of features in this particular Brentwood were exclusive to his dealership.
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One of the factors to consider with larger luxury vans is that the more features they have built in (and the Brentwood definitely has plenty), then the more they weigh and therefore require larger vehicles to tow them. In this case, the ATM of 2700kg puts the Brentwood into the large 4WD tow vehicle range, such as a Toyota LandCruiser, Nissan Patrol, or a LandRover Discovery. Considering the van’s external length of nearly 22ft (6.7m), that makes for a long towing combination.
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For this review, CW used a Nissan Navara 3L turbodiesel. It had a maximum braked towing mass of 2800kg and a maximum ball load of 250kg. Nissan specifies a 100kg ball weight to avoid affecting the GVM of the Navara. You could go to the maximum 250kg ball weight, but that would reduce the truck’s GVM.
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The Navara proved to be a good tow vehicle and we note in passing that it is also&nbsp; the vehicle of choice among the fifth wheeler set for towing smaller rigs.
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The Brentwood is built on a SupaGal chassis and rides on tandem axle Simplicity suspension. The construction follows the standard Regent technique, which is a Meranti timber frame with aluminium cladding.
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On both sides and across the front, aluminium checkerplate is used, giving a decorative and protective look. In the safety department, the Brentwood doesn’t have high level brake lights but the running lights are energy efficient LEDs. 
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On the drawbar are two 9kg gas cylinders and a centre-mounted jockey wheel. A towel rail runs the width of the van, mounted on the checkerplate. At the rear, the spare wheel is mounted on a galvanised looped bumper bar. 
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For any van purchase, if length is a critical factor, it is worth noting that the bumper bar and wheel can add about 21in (530mm) to the external length. 
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Windows are tinted Camec hoppers and the door is the ubiquitous Camec triple locker. Apart from the front boot, there isn’t any other external storage. 
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Nearside features include an Aussie Traveller awning, grab handle light, and two wall illuminators. 
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Lounge in style
The Brentwood has an internal emphasis on luxury, with leather upholstery, glass-fronted lockers, ‘granite’ laminated benchtops, and slimline venetian blinds. 
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In keeping with its luxury van image, the Brentwood features a full width rear bathroom, front bedroom with queen size bed, mid nearside kitchen and a mid offside dinette.
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Ceiling ventilation is provided by a Four Seasons hatch above the bedroom, Seitz marine hatch above the kitchen, two fan hatches in the bathroom and a centre-mounted Dometic air-conditioner.
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My tape measure revealed that at 6ft 6in (2m), the interior height has to be one of the tallest I have come across.
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Starting up the front, the 6ft 2in x 5ft (1.9m x 1.5m) bed with innerspring mattress is surrounded by a bedhead of two overhead lockers, mirrored wardrobes, drawers and foot lockers.
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The bedside cabinets offer a small amount of shelf area, but there is an additional shelf behind the bed beneath the lockers. Lifting the bed base reveals a steel frame/slatted timber construction and a large storage compartment. 
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Bedroom lighting consists of two halogen reading lamps and two downlights.
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Designed to give a small partition between the bedroom and entry door is a two-door diagonal cupboard, with the top door having a mirror. On the opposite side, behind the dinette, is another half height diagonal cupboard.
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As you might expect in a van of this calibre, the kitchen is fully equipped. It has a Spinflo four-burner cooktop, grill/oven, an angled stainless steel sink with a microwave above, and a 186L Dometic fridge.
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The sink, with flick mixer and drinking water taps, is set at an angle to make better use of the benchtop space. General storage consists of three large drawers, one cutlery drawer, two cupboards, two floor lockers and two overhead lockers.
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At the front end of the kitchen bench is a flatscreen TV, which can easily be seen from the dinette and from the bed.
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Above the TV is an AM/FM radio/DVD player with speakers mounted fore and aft. 
Opposite the kitchen is the L-shaped dinette, upholstered in black leather. A snappy cube-shaped footrest was included in the 7th Street Brentwood.
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The table is an interesting shape, about 3ft 6in (1m) long with a width that chamfers down either way from 18in (460mm) in the middle. It has been designed to fit into the dinette/lounge neatly.
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Above the dinette are three overhead lockers, all with glass-fronted doors. Like the bedroom, the lighting consists of halogen reading and ceiling downlights. 
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Caravan bathrooms are definitely increasing in size, and the Brentwood’s is a typical example. It has a separate moulded fibreglass shower cubicle on the nearside, Thetford cassette toilet on the offside, and a large vanity sink unit. The latter is incorporated into cabinetry that includes large cupboards and overhead lockers.
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Also fitted in next to the wash basin is what looks like another cupboard, but it actually holds the top loading washing machine. Towel rails complete the fitout. 
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Like its contemporaries, the Brentwood is fully wired for 240V and 12V, with lights and powerpoints in all the obvious places. 
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This could almost be a self-sufficient van, but there are no solar panels or obvious places for a generator if you can’t get one to fit in the front boot. This is not going to matter if you’re staying in caravan parks, but high energy devices such as the air-conditioner and washing machine are going to need mains supply and the batteries will need some method of charging if you’re free camping for lengthy periods. 
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The Bottom Line
The Brentwood comes with just about everything needed for long distance and comfortable touring. However, a tow vehicle with the correct tow rating and plenty of kilowatts under the bonnet is going to have to be considered as well, given the maximum loaded weight of the van.
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Travellers who like a good sized bathroom and kitchen won’t be disappointed, neither will those looking for a high level of appointment in a caravan. 
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If space and comfort in a caravan are high on your shopping list requirements, then the Brentwood should be seriously considered.
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Contact 7th Street Caravans, 
52 Seventh Street, Boolaroo, NSW 2284, 
www.7thstreetcaravans.com.au, 
(02) 4958 5505. 
For your nearest Regent dealer visit&nbsp; www.regentcaravans.com.au
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I liked
Kitchen setup with angled sink and good benchtop area
Little touches such as the shelf behind the bed, the footrest and towel rails
Good general ventilation and natural light with plenty of window area and roof hatches of various sizes
Good size bathroom with room to move
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Now I’m being picky
Given that this van is set up for self-contained touring, solar panels or some other method of house battery charging is needed
Needs high level brake lights



Regent Brentwood

External length 22ft (6.7m)

External width 7ft 9in (2.4m)

Interior height 6ft 6in (2m)

Nameplate ATM 2700kg

Nameplate GTM 2500kg

Nameplate Tare Weight 2100kg

Frame Meranti timber

Chassis SupaGal

Suspension Simplicity tandem

Cooktop Spinflo four-burner 

cooktop/grill/oven

Fridge Dometic RM4801 186L

Microwave Samsung 850W

Shower Moulded fibreglass cubicle

Toilet Thetford cassette

Lighting 12V

Gas 2 x 9kg

Fresh water tank 2 x 80L

Price $72,990 plus on-road costs 

Regent Brentwood

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