Pan scan

Nick Harding

19 October 2026

Nick Harding checks out a versatile camper with plumbed in toilet

While it might look like a ‘campervan’, the Panama\P57 promises four sleeping berths and four belted seats – plus a fitted washroom – in a layout that’s a bit different from the norm. Prices start at a reasonable-enough £67,995. Importer Marquis Leisure had this particular pre-registered demonstrator on at £64,995.

Build quality – 75%

The base vehicle is Ford’s 5.45m-long Tourneo Custom. Both sliding side doors are retained during a conversion process that also involves key fittings such as the elevating roof from Germany’s SCA and a Mobiframe rear double seat on rails. Slide when you want to optimise lounge space over transporting luggage.

Because it’s the Tourneo variant, the windows are Ford fittings. The only opening ones aft of the cab are in the sliding doors.

White is the only colour for Panamas to date, with graphics kept to a minimum. A top-hinged tailgate includes downlighters (when it’s in the open position) as well as a couple of very useful drop-down hanging rails for towels, etc. Opening the tailgate also gives access to a couple of lockers and the door to the toilet’s holding tank.

Options worth considering include a 200W solar panel (£899), wind-out awning (£1,195) and bike rack (£657), but do note from the outset there’s only a 350kg payload (with no facility for an upgrade to the chassis weight limit, according to Marquis Leisure).

Driving – 88%

I had a whole week behind the wheel and can only praise the performance, handling, ride and economy of the Tourneo base vehicle. The two-litre 134bhp diesel engine with eight-speed automatic transmission is the only offering but it’s more than up to the job. The fact that it’s particularly quiet just adds to its appeal, and a pliant suspension means you’re not crashing into bumps and potholes. It made for an easy victory over Cornwall’s narrow, twisty lanes, aided by a reversing camera and parking sensors front and back. The 70-litre fuel tank should give you a range of around 500 miles.

Comfortable cab seats are heated and can be adjusted for height, reach and rake as well as lumbar support.

There’s a long list of safety fittings – lane-keeping, driver fatigue warning, cruise control with intelligent speed assist, tyre pressure monitoring – as well as plenty of cab gadgetry, starting with a 13in touchscreen for Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, Bluetooth, DAB radio, etc.

Daytime – 65%

Comfortable lounge

Opening both sliding doors helps give a real feeling of space in the lounge area, with the cab seats swivelled and the bench seat pushed to its furthest back setting. Even so, when it comes to adding the free-standing table (it stows neatly in the nearside sliding door for travel) things start to feel a bit cramped – the table itself simply feels too big for indoor use.

The furniture unit aft of the rear seat includes a locker accessed from two sides by tambour doors. There’s also a very slim vertical locker here (it might be able to take a smaller table). Webasto blown air heating is standard.

Night-time – 66%

That solidly-engineered SCA elevating roof isn’t always the easiest to tackle, but it makes up for it in terms of quality. It’s front-hinged for the P\57, with upstairs access from the kitchen area at the back. Official figures are 2.01m (6ft 7in) x 1.16m (3ft 10in) for the roof bed, with its two mattress pieces and Caraflex plastic springs.

As regular campervanners, we had no issues using the roof double as our main bed, especially as the hook-on, folding ladder made things relatively easy. The roof canvas includes a full wraparound mesh panel and a whole end section that can be zipped out altogether when conditions allow. Two reading lights on stalks, both with double USB portals in their bases, were much appreciated. The downstairs bed is still over 6ft, but very much the narrower double (1.89m/6ft 2in x 0.96m/3ft 2in), making it more suitable for younger folk.

Kitchen – 65%

Wraparound kitchen

It may be a bit restrictive, but it’s certainly unusual to see an L-shaped kitchen in a vehicle like this. It wraps around the rear/rear offside and has a lot of permanent worktop by campervan standards. You still get the usual camper-style two gas-rings-and-sink combination.

There are two drawers. The one above the Isotherm compressor fridge (with freezer compartment) is for cutlery, with the other under the hob. One of the two lower-level lockers features shelving.

Washroom – 63%

Plumbed toilet

Amazingly, the designers have found space for a Thetford swivel-bowl toilet and a fixed handbasin in the washroom zone, along with a mirror, while the reading light for the roof bed can also be used in this area. The Whale hot water system as standard makes sense if you are going to use that shower. You’ll be sitting down, such is the privacy arrangement: a screen that rolls across. It’s a shame the showerhead doesn’t extend outside the vehicle, for washing down anything from pets to dirty footwear.

Details – 68%

There’s some compromise between storing food/drink and clothing, especially as there is no wardrobe. However, the drawer in the base of the rear seat came in handy during our travels. Plus there’s the high-level double tambour-doored locker, as well as the padded bed section underneath it, on the nearside aft of the rear seat. Cab storage is excellent – cup holders, three pockets in each door, two gloveboxes and more.

Smoke and CO alarms are standard. The gas locker is not that easily accessible, especially as you should be turning off the supply in here before driving. Fresh and waste water tanks are 50 and 32 litres respectively.

Dimmable lighting includes two strips running the full length of the ceiling over the lounge, although a reading light over each cab seat would have been appreciated.