Michael Browning•27 Apr 2017

REVIEW

Roma Rookie

Size does matter for buyers of this micro family van

Traditional Australian caravanners may find it hard to take the latest crop of micro-caravans like the Wingamm Rookie seriously.

After all, in traditional terms, you seem to get a lot less bang for your buck, but looks can be deceiving.

The all-fibreglass, Italian-built Rookie 3.5 may be much smaller than the average Aussie couple’s caravan, but in the case of the Bunk model reviewed here, it’s also capable of taking a family of four on holiday.

Hereby lies its attraction. Re-set your priorities, view ‘small’ and ‘light’ as assets and suddenly, size matters. After all, it’s been appreciated for decades in the car industry, where ‘smart’ has been valued more highly than ‘sheet metal’, so why not with caravans?

Roma, one of Australia’s oldest caravan makers whose origins can be traced back to the late 1920s, is gambling on that attitudinal change. While still building monster tri-axle and three tonne tare weight family vans with massive slide-out walls, it’s also focusing on the opposite end of the market by gathering a coterie of small caravans and campers from around the world under the sub-brandname of ‘Roma miniline’.

The Canadian-built and aluminium clad Alto with its distinctive glass rising roof was its first tiny caravan launched two years ago and the Italian-built Rookie, which made its public debut at last year’s Melbourne Leisurefest, was the second.

Hot on its heels on this year’s show circuit is the teardrop American-Italian ‘Buddy’, while before the year is out, the quirky French collapsible BeauEr X3 and the American-designed and built Inka Outdoor, will join this eclectic bunch.

All have four things in common: They’re small, light, will cost probably more than you would expect for their size, and challenge the way we think about leisure travel – particularly for younger travellers. But back to the Rookie 3.5…

Family Tardis

As its name suggests, this small white blob of a caravan with its one-piece, join-free fibreglass body, measures just 3.5 metres (11ft 6in) long, yet amazingly provides accommodation, cooking and dining space for four inside its bright and surprisingly roomy interior.

The Rookie’s attraction to the minimalist family lies in what is missing: bulk and weight. At a tare of 800kg, with a payload of around 200kg and a ball load of just 60kg, the Rookie bunk van can in theory be towed by a small family hatch, so Roma’s pitch to potential buyers is ‘Change your life, not your car!’

That’s increasingly more appealing to singles or young couples with children, as they often live in apartments and share a single, smaller car or light SUV. For them a large caravan and the cost of purchasing and maintaining a large vehicle to tow it, knocks that option ‘right out of the ballpark’, as the Americans would put it.

Roma’s view of the future Australian RV market is that time-poor, younger buyers will still want to escape from their inner-urban homes, but will travel shorter distances and rarely leave the bitumen as sealed-road access to more remote areas improve.

Younger people with children are also more social than their older counterparts, so will more happily head for a holiday park where their gadgets work, rather than leave the ‘grid’.

So, as a consequence, the market for rugged, self-sufficient caravans will contract along with the diminishing number of people who have the time and inclination to spend a long time on the road.

Extrapolating this into a caravan, we have something like the Rookie, which might appear almost flimsy by traditional standards, yet is perfectly suited to this new market where style and size rank higher than substance and flab for buyers, with price taking a relatively low ranking.

Just as well, as the Rookie Bunk van at a starting price of $46,500 delivered in Melbourne, is not a budget option, with larger bunk vans from most major makers costing only a little if anything more.

Don’t tip it over!

Sitting on a typically thin Al-Ko chassis, with Al-Ko rubber suspension and fitted with an Al-Ko ball coupling with over-ride brakes and mechanical sway control, the Rookie demands some behavioural changes for a traditional caravanner.

For example, its 60kg ball weight and rear door access mean that you really need the rear stabiliser struts down before entering after you uncouple, or risk tipping it on its tail.

Other external features include 195/65-15 tyres mounted on pressed steel wheels, while the single spare wheel is bolted to one side of the large rear tail panel. There’s no rear bumper as such – just a couple of bulges in the GRP bodywork, as with most European caravans, and they should be able to withstand minor bumps.

Inside, you also need an inner-city apartment approach to make the most of its compact dimensions and features.

For example, the four-seater lounge – larger than you will find in most caravans twice the Rookie’s size – and the drop-down dining table need to be reconfigured with the addition of an infill panel to form your queen-size bed.

However, your children will be able to go to bed earlier, as the two singe bunk beds are fixed in place in the rear quarter and each has its own opening double-glazed windows, complete with block-out and fly wire blinds.

The negative in the 3.5m long Rookie is that the bunks come at the expense of the combined shower and toilet that fills this space in the regular Rookie 3.5, but Roma assumes that most Rookie families will stay in holiday parks anyway, so the opportunity to get away for short holidays as a family negates this disadvantage.

The galley is the same with both shower/toilet and bunk models though, and although small, the two-burner gas cooktop, small but deep stainless steel sink and 70-litre, below-benchtop 12/240v fridge are adequate for a weekend away, as is the Rookie’s 50-litre fresh water tank.

For any longer trips you would probably pack a portable BBQ (the Rookie has a handy gas bayonet on its A-frame as standard) – and maybe a portable fridge for drinks.

Because you won’t be travelling for very long, the Rookie’s three-quarter length robe with three clothes drawers below and two largish lidded cupboards above each side of the lounge, will probably be enough for your needs.

Other storage nooks just inside the entry door and adjacent to the upper bunk can handle smaller items, but don’t look under the dinette seats for extra room: there’s storage for perhaps a few pairs of shoes next to the Rookie’s single (and surprisingly large capacity) 120AH battery under the left seat.

Temperature controlled

However the Rookie’s Truma Saphir reverse cycle air conditioning system occupies the opposite locker. Yes, this little van has both ducted heating and air conditioning as standard!

Sliding side windows and an opening roof hatch are included for ventilation.

Outside, the storage picture is a little brighter and while there’s provision for two gas bottles in the boot, the standard single 9kg bottle should be enough for the Rookie’s modest needs, leaving useful space in this deep, front storage area.

If that’s not enough, there’s a small, but useful locker in the right hand rear corner, although there’s no means of holding the lid up while you load it with the things like electrical leads, hoses, etc. that could live here.

An awning is available to fit into the sail trail built into the van's door side.

To help Australians get accustomed to micro caravans, Roma hopes to offer the Rookie on the rental market later this year, but by then the penny may have dropped with many current and future caravanners.

We liked:

>> Light and easy to tow

>> Relatively roomy interior

>> Air con and air heating standard

Not so much:

>> Minimal kitchen and cooking space

>> Poor ground clearance

>> Vulnerable exterior plumbing

Verdict

The Roma Rookie 3.5 encourages you to look at family caravanning a different way and opens up the market for urban dwellers to change their lifestyle without changing their car.

Roma Rookie 3.5 Bunk van

Travel length: 4460mm

External body length: 3600mm

External body width: 2171mm

Travel height: 2550mm

Interior height: 2000mm

Tare weight: 800kg

ATM: 1020kg

Ball weight: 60kg

Body: All fibreglass with 30mm thick composite walls

Chassis: Al-Ko 75mm x 50mm galvanised

Suspension: Single axle leaf spring

Brakes: 10-inch electric drum

Wheels: 15in steel with 195/65-15 tyres

Fresh water: 1 x 50L

Battery: 1 x120Ah deep cycle

Gas: 1 x 9kg

Cooking: Two-burner gas cooktop

Fridge: 70-litre 12/240v

Air conditioning: Truma Saphir slip system reverse-cycle

Microwave: None

Toilet/Shower: No

Lighting: LED

Base price $46,500 (delivered, ex-Melbourne)

Supplied by: Melbourne Roma, Campbellfield, Victoria

More info: Little RV

Roma Rookie

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