Wellhouse Leisure Trento

If you're looking for a campervan which doubles as a family car then the Wheelhouse Leisure Trento could fit the bill. Based on the Ford Tourneo Custom people carrier it can carry five passengers and sleep four.

Yorkshire-based conversion specialist Wellhouse Leisure has produced a number of vehicles based on Ford vehicles, including the Trento which is built on the Tourneo Custom people carrier.

It’s a clever camper conversion that will take up to five for travel (at a squeeze – that rear seat is more suited to a trio of children) and sleep up to four. The model on test is the short-wheelbase, elevating-roof version in luxurious Titanium trim but Trentos are also available in long-wheelbase and high-top configurations should you desire.

Build quality – 84%

Because it’s the Tourneo, you get metallic paintwork (the ‘Orange Glow’ featured here is one of 10 colours), 17in alloy wheels, colour-coded body kit and trim as standard. There are also features such as sliding doors to both sides with hinged windows and mesh blinds.

Quality conversion elements are also in evidence, exemplified by a sliding rear seat with three integral three-point belts, from German company Schnierle. The pop-top is from UK company Drivelodge, which has a decades-long history of camper 
roof production. It’s particularly easy to use, with an acrylic window at the front and mesh screens each side. Keeping the solid section of the roof in black is a cost-saver, but it blends in particularly well here.

The furniture is from Italian specialist Tecnoform – the distinctive white gloss finish should be easy to wipe clean and has a quality feel to it.

Driving – 85%

The Trento certainly drives and parks like 
a car – although do note the Ford base means it sits a bit higher than some campers (so beware of height barriers).

The cab is a dream, featuring the likes of
 a padded steering wheel with full set of controls, electric folding mirrors with heating function, air conditioning, cruise control, heated seats with eight-way adjustability, heated windscreen, curtain airbags and more.

Dominating a very user-friendly dashboard is an 8in touchscreen infotainment centre with DAB and Bluetooth connectivity that also acts as a reversing monitor and links directly to Google Maps.

Elsewhere, there are valuable fittings such as the alarm/immobiliser system with tracker, front and rear parking sensors, rear wash/wipe, front foglights... it’s a long list.

Most importantly, powered by a 128bhp 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine, it drives well, scoring highly in terms of steering, brakes, handling, acceleration, and even economy.

Extras worth considering are auto transmission (£1,620) and the 168bhp engine (£1,500), especially as the otherwise slick and easy manual six-speed gearbox is rather tall-geared.

Daytime – 76%

It’s not too hard to swivel both cab seats, push the rear seat back to its farthest point and use one or both of the tables – there’s
 a dog-leg unit behind the cab passenger’s seat and
 a pedestal-leg top with tripod (stowed at the back).

The Trento features the side-furniture unit format found in many campervans. The largest storage unit, to the right of the rear seat,
 has a space-saving tambour
 door and – another neat 
touch – two shelves that can 
be hinged out of the way as 
required, as well as a hanging rail.
 There’s also a separate, small locker
 above the wardrobe and a drawer in the base of the rear seat.

It’s simple enough to push the roof and upper bed up so you can stand comfortably. Again, standard equipment levels are impressive. There’s Eberspächer heating with a single blown air outlet in the cab passenger’s seat base, a solar panel and smoke and CO alarms.

Night-time – 78%

Without doubt the main bed will be downstairs, where you need to bring the seat base forward before folding out flat its three sections. Extra width is provided by a padded section along the nearside. There’s a knack to operating the retainer catches for the seat base but otherwise bed make-up is a straightforward enough operation.

The overhead double only has a slim mattress, so is more suited to small children. However, it’s a decent size, at 6ft 2in x 3ft 6in. A ladder is supplied for access, but there’s nowhere obvious to stow it for travel. A flip-over section of bed board means nothing can fall down with a bump in the night.

There’s lots of LED lighting, including downlighters along both sides of the main living area, two reading lamps, ambient strips at floor level, plus a trio of bullet lights to the underside of the roof bed. There are bullet lights over each swivelled cab seat and one downlighter in the upper bed area. Van-X blackout curtains – a neat solution in a campervan – take up very little space.

Kitchen – 79%

There’s the de rigueur two-ring gas hob and sink combination here under smoked glass lids, along with a Dometic compressor fridge,

The grill in the test vehicle was a £400 option – the deep drawer storage arrangements around it means you don’t have the usual feeling that you’ve lost a locker. The largest locker, to the right of the fridge, houses 
a portable toilet, but there’s some shelf space above that. There are also two very handy eye-level lockers.

Washroom – N/A

The portable toilet is all you get in terms of washroom facilities, although an exterior shower fitting is an optional extra. A neat touch is the facility to remove the toilet for emptying via the offside sliding door (it saves dragging it through the van’s interior).

Details – 80%

What lifts a decent campervan to the next level are the little touches and the Trento has them in abundance – from the twin reading lamps with USB outlets over the bed/rear seat, to the fresh water tank filler in the driver’s door plastic-lined footwell. There are lots of grab handles and coat hooks (a reminder the Tourneo was initially conceived as a multi-passenger carrier) which are bound to come in handy when you’re camping, and, as a show of its faith in its conversion work, Wellhouse provides a three-year warranty, to match that of Ford for the base vehicle.

Verdict – 80%

If you’re after a campervan that’s well made, practical and boasts a high level of luxury at
 a keen price, this could be for you. Ford’s Transit Custom Tourneo, providing car-level specification and feel, complements Wellhouse’s campervan capabilities perfectly.