Tuff Jurgens counters grey imports

Before assembly of Jurgens caravans began in Gippsland, Victoria eight years ago, the now 63-year-old South African brand was best known here for its chunky, light and ‘veldt-ready’ hybrid off-roaders.

But with its market focus more on assembling the brand’s larger family-friendly touring vans, Jurgens Australia left a market hole that grey importers have been quick to leap into.

Now, with its new ‘TuffTRAX’ previewed at the recent Queensland Caravan Supershow, Jurgens Australia has plugged that gap with a very keenly priced and fully Australian-compliant serious off-roader.

With its body measuring 14ft 1in (4280mm) x 6ft 6in (1970mm) externally and weighing 1395kg empty (but able to pack a generous 600kg payload) the composite bodied pop-top due to be commercialised in mid-August is also a logical competitor to the rash of similarly-sized and similarly-specced hybrid campers on the Australian market that currently span the price range from $65,000-$83,000.

Yet at its Brisbane Show price of $49,990, it undercut the cheapest of its obvious rivals by at least $15,000.

To ensure that the TuffTRAX has a clear advantage over its main grey market Jurgens rival – the Safari Xcell – Jurgens has worked with Queensland suspension specialist Vehicle Components to put class-leading Cruisemaster XT trailing arm independent coil spring suspension under the Aussie newcomer.

Standard equipment on the TuffTRAX when it goes on sale is expected to include a fully galvanised chassis featuring a 150mm draw bar and standard bush bars, 12-inch off-road brakes, a front double bed plus two single beds/lounge that converts to a larger third bed if required, a full slide-out kitchen, a hot water service, a 160-litre fresh water tank, an external shower and portable toilet, double-glazed windows, standard 16-inch off-road tyres and a DO-35 off-road coupling.

A prototype fitted with modified full-galvanised welding and bolted chassis recently completed a nine-day Outback horror loop through Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.

Vehicle Components’ engineers were on board with stress measuring equipment for part of the 5000km test loop that included the rugged Gammon Ranges National Park adjacent to the Arkaroola Protection Area in the Northern Flinders Ranges and touched the edge of the Simpson Desert.

Depending on market acceptance, the TuffTRAX is expected to be the start of Jurgens’ official re-entry into the Australian off-road segment, and we can expect to see more models from the South African range of lightweight off-roaders return to the Australian market under the Jurgens Australia banner.

Following the TuffTRAX, these are likely to include the 1250kg Safari Onyx and extend to the larger 5775mm x 1975mm four-berth Safari Explorer. 

Like the TuffTRAX, all these are likely to be fully imported from Jurgens in South Africa, with specific Australian equipment and Australian compliance modifications made at Jurgens Australia’s modern Pakenham factory, where they will emerge alongside the current range of larger Australian-assembled Jurgens touring caravans.