FIND US CONTACT US PUBLISHING SERVICES WHAT WE DO EXHIBITIONS, SHOWS & AWARDS LATEST NEWS JOBS ABOUT US Home News Motorhome Of The Year 2014 Announced RECENT NEWS ITEMS Warners announces its 2015 outdoor show season Staff raise funds for Motor Neurone Disease Association Great end to the 2014 Warners Show Season RMweb Live The countdown has begun New Warners show launches in sunny Stafford Strong attendance for National Motorhome Show Our famous Peterborough Show returns New magazines acquired by Warners Obstacle Race Magazine teams up with Warners Motorhome of the Year 2014 Announced Motorhome of the Year 2014 Announced Published on 20 December 2013 Rapido 640 named Motorhome of the Year 2014 and winner of the Fixed Double Bed Motorhome of the Year category. The Rapido 640 has been named the overall Motorhome of the Year 2014, as well as the winner of the Fixed Double Bed Motorhome of the Year category by Motorcaravan Motorhome Monthly (MMM), the UK’s best-selling motorhome magazine, and Which Motorhome, the UK’s number one magazine for motorhome testing, at their prestigious 2014 awards. 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 for sale in the UK. The awards were sponsored by the Caravan Club and were held at Searcey’s in Knightsbridge, London on Friday 6th December, with dealers and manufacturers from the motorhome industry present. 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 Rapido 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, commented: “Whilst 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. Notes to editors: The Rapido 640 is priced from £49,700 and is built on a Fiat Ducato chassis-cab. It is a 3-berth motorhome (or a 4-berth in 640B format, with an additional drop-down single bed). It is 6.49m long and comes with Fiat’s full range of 2.3-litre (130 or 148bhp) and 3.0 Multijet (177bhp) engines. You can also choose from two styles of cabinetwork. For more information on Rapido motorhomes, go to www.rapido-motorhome.co.uk. For more information on the MMM awards, please contact Daniel Attwood on 01778 391154 or danielattwood@warnersgroup.co.uk or Peter Vaughan on 01778 391118 or peterv@warnersgroup.co.uk or visit www.themotorhomeawards.co.uk. 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