Rapido does the double at prestigious awards
RAPIDO has become a double winner in this year’s Motorcaravan Motorhome Monthly (MMM) awards.
MMM, the UK’s top selling motorhome magazine joined forces with Which Motorhome, the country’s number one magazine for the testing of motorhomes in presenting their awards.
The Rapido 640 was named Motorhome Of The Year and picked up the title of Fixed Double Bed Motorhome Of The Year.
The MMM awards are now in their tenth year and for the third year running MMM has joined forces with Which Motorhome, with one set of combined awards which recognise the best new campervans and motorhomes on sale in the UK. The awards were sponsored by the Caravan Club.
Expert and experienced judges from MMM and Which Motorhome magazines looked at all the models new to the UK market or that have undergone significant design specification upgrades. To select a winner, the judges considered the functionality of the layout, the build quality and overall usability, as well as how the ‘van performs on the road and on the campsite, right through to whether it offers value for money.
The Rapido 640 is a great example of a fixed double bed motorhome. The judges also selected it as their Motorhome of the Year as it impressed them the most by offering value for money, superb design and impressive levels of equipment all in a highly desirable package.
The 640 is a low-profile with a difference: It offers a corner island bed in a motorhome that’s under six-and-a-half-metres long. It’s a clever and unusual design that sees the lounge ahead of a compact transverse kitchen that’s located just aft of the habitation door. The main sleeping quarters are housed in a separate bedroom with a sliding door, where you’ll also find the vanity washbasin unit. The toilet room also contains a good-sized integral shower.
The judges praised the shower/toilet, well-planned bedroom and generous storage. They were also taken by its impressive set of features that Rapido has so elegantly integrated into such a compact vehicle.
Editor of Which Motorhome and head of the judging panel, Peter Vaughan, said: “While the convenience of an island bed is unarguable, most models so-equipped are too big for a market that is largely looking to downsize. Rapido has founds a best of both worlds’ solution.”
While Daniel Attwood, managing editor of Motorcaravan Motorhome Monthly, added: “Fixed beds in motorhomes are de rigueur but so is downsizing to smaller models. With the 640, Rapido has created a masterpiece that allows one to retire in a fixed double bed, benefit from a wonderful washroom and relax and entertain in a comfortable lounge… and all in a very compact motorhome that’s only six-and-a-half-metres long.”
The runner-up of the Fixed Double Bed Motorhome of the Year was the Laika Kreos 3008, while the Elddis Autoquest 155 and the Moto-Trek Euro-Treka 1 were both highly commended.
Fixed double bed layouts – whether in French bed, transverse bed or island bed configuration – are the undoubted best sellers in the mainstream motorhome market, and such designs have taken the top honours in these awards for the past two years. However, increasingly designers are up against the constraints of producing a good-sized bed with easy access in smaller and smaller vehicles – without compromising the all-important kitchen, washroom and especially the lounge. Buyers, meanwhile, select fixed bed layouts not just for the superior sleeping comfort they offer but the vital additional storage available underneath fixed beds.