Wellhouse Leisure is claiming its latest conversion could really stir up the market for anyone wanting four-wheel drive and automatic transmission in a camping car.

The Huddersfield-based converter is already well known for conversions on Hyundai, Ford, and, more recently, Toyota.

At this week’s Motorhome and Caravan Show at the NEC Birmingham, the company launched its new model, the Turismo Tourist, this time based on a SsangYong Turismo.

That gives the vehicle a 3m-long wheelbase. It comes with a 2.2-litre Euro 6 engine, and a starting price of £29,995.

Wheelhouse managing director David Elliott said he thought customers would be particularly interested in adding the four-wheel-drive and seven-speed Mercedes-Benz automatic gearbox option, which takes the price up to £39,495.

He said: “Before now, if you wanted four-wheel-drive and an automatic seven-speed gearbox then you were looking at between £50,000 and £60,000. With us you also get a five-year warranty.”

He added, “The Turismo is built on a people carrier model, not a van, so it drives like a people carrier.”

The conversion also includes two single beds that, with the help of folded down front cab seats, come to seven feet (2.1m) in length.

Elliott said SsangYong had been much more involved in the production of the vehicle, including choosing the name. He has also had a much more enthusiastic response from existing SsangYong dealers, through whom he initially wants to sell the vehicle, than has been the case with Ford or Hyundai.

He plans to start production within eight weeks, making initially two to three vehicles a week.

SsangYong UK marketing and communications director Steve Gray said he believed the Turismo would make a perfect van conversion vehicle because of its flat floor, length, and because SsangYong has gone for a 2-2-3 seating arrangement, rather than a conventional 2-3-2.

“This gives you a wider envelope of space at the rear,” he said.