Globecar Trendscout 2008

The Trendscout is an eye-catching ’van. It is not often that you see orange used so boldly in a motorhome’s colour scheme. Also, it trumps some of its more expensive rivals by providing wipers on both rear windows.

The water tanks are onboard, with the fresh tank under the passenger side bunk and the waste beneath the double lounge floor, which bodes well for winter touring. This Transit-based ’van has an electric side step and a fixed rear step.

Many high-top campers have a small step down from the cab into the living area, but the Trendscout then has another one up into the rear lounge area: a massive 27cm, leaving 168cm of headroom. Access from the cab is tight, with only 24cm of space between the passenger armrest and the washroom bulkhead, making it a real squeeze through.

The flat overhead lockers have a stitched-leather, printed veneer and the interior walls are panelled with plywood rather than upholstered, complemented by a wood-effect vinyl flooring with drop-in carpets.

The Trendscout is a small ’van, based on the medium-wheelbase Ford Transit, but that 2.2-litre 128bhp engine is certainly no slouch.

It has cab air-conditioning, passenger-seat swivel, alloy wheels, twin airbags and power steering as standard.

This is where the layout of the camper really comes into its own – that sociable rear lounge with its U-shaped lounge conversion option. The ’van has squab and backrest cushions stashed away, and a simple wooden insert rests between the side sofa boxes to fill in the U.

The Trendscout also comes with a free-standing table for the UK market, as opposed to the heavy-based or fixed tables that many German manufacturers seem to prefer.

Integral blinds are built into the cab windows. The slatted sofa bases meet at the centre and the backrests slot into place; they have Velcro add-ons (to make higher backrests) that must first be removed. The side windows get blinds and voiles which, because of the Transit’s rather pronounced tumblehome, tend to hang vertically unless they’re tucked behind the cushion backs. The driver’s side single bed extends to 2.3m.

Here there is a ceiling rail for hanging wet (or dry) clothes and towels, and the tap doubles as a shower-head. It's one of the few ’vans in its class to boast a swivel toilet.

Storage space is not the Trendscout's strong point. The seat bases are hinged for storage space access, and you can open the rear doors for access to plenty of storage space in the second floor under the lounge area (you’d use it for spare wheels, repair tools and any other heavy gear that needs to be low down). Other than the rail in the washroom though, there’s no dedicated wardrobe.