Michael Browning•16 Sept 2016

REVIEW

Supreme 30th Anniversary

Melbourne manufacturer celebrates 30 years in business with stylish new, smooth-sided caravan

Notching up 30 years in the highly competitive Australian caravan industry is reason enough to make some noise and that’s what Supreme Caravans are doing at the moment.

As we’ve already reported, the company that immigrant brothers Frank and Karl Prosenik started in the late 1980s has released a barrage of four new Anniversary models to mark the occasion, with a big black tie party at its impressive Craigieburn, Victoria manufacturing HQ staged to showcase them to its dealers.

But as well as delivering a retail opportunity, Supreme’s Anniversary models are also a measure of how its caravans have outlasted many of its rivals to become one of the top-five Australian manufacturers.

SMOOTH SIDES ALL THE RAGE

From a distance, there’s nothing spectacularly different about the four 30th Anniversary models that range from an 18-foot single axle van to a rear club lounge 22ft tandem.

All have the aerodynamic wedge-shaped roofline that has become a signature Supreme feature, but a closer look reveals some important exterior changes. The most important of these is their smooth Alucobond aluminium cladding applied over a traditional screwed and glued Meranti timber wall frame.

Sitting above all-round checker plate stone shielding that extends 800mm up the walls –higher than on other Supreme models – such smooth aluminium cladding is far from an industry innovation, but a significant first for Supreme, which has used ribbed aluminium cladding exclusively until now.

According to National Sales Manager Matt McKinnon, the use of the popular housing industry material is far from an admission that it represents a superior cladding for caravans. Although potentially offering greater hail resistance, the main reason for offering it in a choice of white or silver on Anniversary models is simply that customers want it, despite its marginal weight penalty over ribbed cladding.

In case you missed it, subtle decals adorning the front, back and sides of all 30th Anniversary Supremes, reinforce the point that they’re special.

The overall impression given by our 19ft 6in silver over black checker plate review van was one of quality and in all visible respects it lived up to expectation.

Like celebratory models offered by many vehicle and RV builders, Supreme has dipped deep into its option bin for a range of included items, showcasing the best appliances, electrics and materials available from its suppliers.

The Model 1960 RTR photographed here comes standard with both an opening front boot and a full 505mm x 505mm tunnel boot just aft of it. With a checker-plate toolbox fitted just aft of the twin gas bottles on its A-frame, it offers exceptional exterior storage space for a van of its (average) length.

THICKER THAN SOME

Speaking of its A-frame, both it and the similar 150mm x 50mm box section main chassis rails that extends beyond the axles of all Anniversary models are made in-house under Supreme’s own ‘Road King’ brand from 4mm thick Australian steel, while according to McKinnon, some caravan makers save weight and cost by using thinner 3mm steel.

A 50mm riser below the main rails gives commendable ground clearance, with most vulnerable wires and plumbing tucked well up out of direct stone strike. The cold-water tap on the A-frame has checker plate stone shielding, there’s a stone shield underneath and the van’s 16x 9inch alloy wheels are shod with chunky ‘mud’ tyres.

Given these semi off-roader credentials, we were surprised to find very basic roller-rocker leaf spring suspension under this Anniversary model. It’s there for cost reasons, of course, with customers able to choose from a wide range of coil spring and shock absorber independent trailing arm suspension systems from major suppliers like Vehicle Components (Cruisemaster), Al-Ko (Enduro) or Simplicity’s new Coil Spring dirt road and full off-road systems.

Personally, after looking at the impressive way the Supreme is put together, I’d be happy to bolt any of these systems under the 1960 RTR, slap a truck-mesh stone shield ahead of its gas bottles and take it on any major unsealed Australian road with confidence!

SHARP DRESSED VAN

While each has a different interior layout, all four Supreme 30th Anniversary caravans have rear entry doors with quality aluminium Omni steps beneath them.

In the case of the 19ft 6in model, they deliver you into the van with its full separate shower and toilet ensuite on your immediate right, the galley and café dinette lounge on opposing walls in the centre and its full-size, 1500mm x 1980mm island queen bed tucked up in the nose.

It’s a traditional layout that’s great for extended touring, but there were a few things we’d like changed. One – the tight space between the cassette toilet and the van’s standard front-loading Camec 4kg washing machine has already been addressed, with Supreme adding an additional 75mm (3 inches) to this model’s overall length to solve the problem.

No such criticism however can be levelled at the Supreme’s huge one-piece shower module, which is accessed by a wide door that’s protected from swinging open while travelling by a simple, but effective, manual snib lock. Importantly, you can actually get out of the shower and dry yourself inside the ensuite.

The central vanity is workable, rather than spectacular, with a raised bowl beneath a flick mixer tap on its left, leaving good space alongside for toilet bags, etc, while a large illuminated mirror is a welcome feature above.

My second grump concerns the sharp edges on both ends of the 36mm thick ply-base waterfall kitchen benchtop and the suspended cupboard above it. It’s not hard to make curved edges – look at those on the lounge – and my head still hurts!

Otherwise the meals/lounge area is a good size, complementing the capacity of the van’s standard 184-litre Dometic AES tropical-rated three-way fridge freezer with its microwave above.

However while commendably set back to allow the top of the fridge cabinet to hold dishes in front of it, the microwave is topped by a shallow deep shelf that would be a challenge for most people to access for storage.

Good bench space, a double-decker pullout pantry and extra-thick 12mm ply used in the drawer bases to avoid sagging, are quality features that show Supreme’s experience in building caravans.

The off-white suede upholstery on the dinette seats looks plush and distinctive, although the jury is out on how it will wear with time.

Grey/black/white tonings throughout the interior combine with its large Ranger windows to give the Supreme Anniversary model a spacious look, ready to personalise if you like, with some colourful cushions or bed throws.

The queen-size bed itself is worthy of comment, as without a front window, it has been pushed well up into the van’s nose and doesn’t need to be extended at its base to its full size. There’s also good, very useable and unencumbered space beneath it with the same quality internal finish as in all the caravan’s other cupboards.

The only black mark here is that the external TV-mounting box on the door side intrudes into the bed access corridor and could be a real shin-banger in the middle of the night until you map it into your brain. It would be good to have this bulge elsewhere, perhaps intruding into one of the kitchen cupboards instead.

Although it looks like it should have a mid-$70,000 price tag, the 30th Anniversary Supreme 1960 RTR sells in the mid-high $60,000 bracket, depending on how hard you twist your dealer’s arm, representing a premium of around $4000 over a ribbed aluminium clad regular Supreme of the same length.

For that minimal extra spend, the 1960 RTR is a winner.

WE LIKED:

>> Anniversary extras

>> Quality finish and interior space

>> Exceptional exterior storage

NOT SO MUCH:

>> Sharp bench and cupboard corners

>> Squeezy toilet (addressed on production models)

>> Intrusion into bedside area of exterior TV box

VERDICT

If this Anniversary model is a report card on Supreme Caravans’ 30 years in business, the Melbourne company scores highly in most areas, and explains why it has not only survived, but deserves its place among Australia’s biggest-selling caravan manufacturers.

SUPREME 1960 RTR 30th ANNIVERSARY

Travel length: 8600mm

External body length: 6400mm

Interior length: 5960mm

External body width: 2460mm

Travel height: 2950mm

Interior height: 1930mm

Tare weight: 2541kg

ATM: 2941kg

Ball weight: 188kg

Body construction: Meranti Timber frame, screwed and glued with Alucobond aluminium cladding

Chassis: Road King box-section Permagal chassis with 150mm A-frame and main rails with 50mm riser over suspension

Suspension: Leaf spring roller-roller

Brakes: 10 inch Al-Ko electric

Wheels: 16-inch Trooper alloy wheel with 245/75-16 mud terrain tyres

Fresh water: 2 x 95L tanks

Battery: 1 x 100AH battery

Solar: 1 x 120w roof-mounted panel

Air-conditioner: Ibis 3 reverse cycle

Gas: 2 x 9kg bottles

Hot water: 28L Swift

Cooking: Swift oven and 3 gas + 1 electric burner

Fridge: Dometic 4606 185L AES fridge

Microwave: 28L Dlux microwave

Toilet: Thetford porcelain cassette toilet

Shower: Separate one-piece fiberglass cubicle

TV: 22in TV

Lighting: LED

Options fitted: None

Price (As reviewed, ex-Melbourne): $68,990

Supplied by: Supreme Caravans, Craigieburn, Vic

Supreme 30th Anniversary

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