Verdict
The Hymer C-Class Classic 544 is a serious contender to the British rivals such as the great-value Bessacarr E435. An excellent family ’van, concluded the Practical Motorhome review team.
Pros
Beautifully built and thoughtfully detailed
Combination water and space heating is a nice touch
Striking exterior
Cons
Basic interior
Oven is unusually located, which some may find difficult
Living
The Hymer offers a large table, providing lots of elbow room, but in typically Teutonic fashion, the seats are firm and plain in appearance. Still, they’re supportive enough and four can dine comfortably.
Kitchen
The Hymer has the refrigerator next to the door, with a large workspace on the other side of the door. The three-burner hob and small oven/grill are perfectly usable, although the height of oven makes it difficult to see inside without crouching down beside it. The two overhead lockers provide plenty of cup and plate storage while a large cutlery drawer will swallow all your eating irons with ease.
Washroom
In the past, when end-corner washroom layouts were more prevalent, the washroom was merely a place for simple ablutions before bed, but nowadays many people may find the ’vans here a little short of space in the wet room.
The Hymer does a great job, with a small but separate shower cubicle and a rake of nice wooden units, a large mirror and a rooflight.
The separate shower controls are a nice touch and a cut above the integrated hand-basin/shower control units found in many similarly priced rivals.
Beds
The Hymer’s overcab area is a big, usable, space. The main minus point for the Hymer is that, for adults, the sofa facing the dinette is a bit on the short side.
Storage
Hymer has provided a long, wide, storage locker that runs almost the full width of the ’van. It’s ideal for skis and other long items but while in transit, smaller items such as ramps, cables and other sundries may end up at the far end of the locker, and be difficult to get at.
Inside the ’vans, there is plenty of storage under the seat bases for things such as bedding, while numerous roof-level lockers line the areas above the lounge and dinette.
The Hymer has a TV locker above the foot of the bench seat but it would need a slide-out tray to mount the telly on, to make it viewable from all the lounge seats.
There’s a huge locker next to the living-area door that will swallow acres of stuff but provide a useful worksurface the rest of the time, and although this is unusual it is nonetheless useful. The shoe storage rack next to the door is another quirky touch – we couldn’t think of many other motorhomes which provide a place to put your boots.
Technical Specifications
| Payload | 525 kg |
| MTPLM | 3500 kg |
| Shipping Length | 5.98 m |
| Width | 2.27 m |
