We like Nissan cars, SUVs and trucks well enough, but we're starting to think the company is wasting its talents and should focus all attention on camper vans. It has designed several of our favorite camper van concepts in recent memory and even sells a few versatile mini-campers at dealerships around the world. Its Caravan MyRoom is the latest to hit the market, debuting as an absolutely warm, welcoming tiny RV with space-enhancing features like a clean-folding Murphy bed and sliding table/workstation.
Forget Volkswagen for a minute. Nissan has been quietly doing some really memorable things with camper vans over the past decade. It's averaged more than a camper/adventure van concept a year since Covid-19 struck, and those concepts rank among the most intriguing we've looked at during that time, ranging from all-electric ski lodges, to expandable digital day camps, to seaside mobile office mobiles.
Beyond just concepts, Nissan has also brought several camper vans to its global lineup, selling everything from all-terrain Japanese fishing huts, to German sand-and-sun chasers, to Spanish electric pop-tops.
Looking a little farther back, Nissan's history makes clear it isn't just a Johnny-come-lately trying to cash in on pre- and post-pandemic RV popularity. Nearly 20 years ago, it helped create what was later revived as the Airstream Basecamp, possibly the coolest, little overland camping trailer to come from a mainstream brand. And it's had a thing for sporty expander vans for quite a while.
Nissan's latest contribution to the RV market has run the full course from fantastical concept, to limited edition model, and now to dealership mainstay. Nissan originally premiered the Caravan MyRoom as half of a conceptual double-debut at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon, and to be honest, it seemed the least likely of all its concept campers to ever sniff production at the time. But it did, in fact, get the green light in 2023 and was announced as a Japanese-market special edition last October.
It seems the MyRoom "Launch Edition" was a rousing success because Nissan is bringing it back this month as a more regular part of the domestic Caravan lineup. The automaker has, of course, toned down the design extensively from the original sofa- and mattress-filled rambling hotel room concept with TV and hovering shelves over its windows. But it's still done a nice job of carrying over the spa retreat feel of the original concept and continues to think of it less as a camper and more as an all-new category of vehicle for drivers who want a personal space to use to relax and connect with nature.
The woodgrain paneling is slightly darker than in 2022's concept, but it still defines the entire interior, covering the walls, floor and central headliner. The long transverse sofa has been replaced with a multipurpose second-row bench that uses a pivoting design to switch between front- and rear-facing modes, an alternative to the swivel seats common in camper vans. The two-seat bench even provides firmer backrest support when facing forward during driving and a softer, more sofa-like feel in rear-facing lounge mode. It also lays completely flat.
When it comes to the primary bed, Nissan offers two options. Our favorite is the Murphy bed, not only because it's a classic design element on its own but also because Nissan trims the entire bed base in the same woodgrain paneling as the rest of the cabin. So when it's folded up during the day, it disappears away into the greater motif.
The other bed option is a multi-piece folding mattress that mounts atop the wall-integrated ledges at night, breaking up and storing neatly atop those same ledges during the day.
Nissan installs a sliding table into sidewall slots that run the length of the cabin, allowing the movable surface to be used with the front sofa bench as a formal upright dining table and workstation, atop the bed as a casual table and laptop desk, or with the lefthand passenger-side sofa bench as a side table. The tabletop also removes and stores away when not needed.
As the model name hints, Nissan took more inspiration from hotel room design than camper van outfitting, emphasizing space, minimalism and comfort. So the MyRoom skips RV staples like kitchen and bathroom equipment to maintain its spacious feel, relying on stowable furnishings to further enhance that feeling of openness. The horizontal blinds over the windows and the wraparound privacy curtain up front feel more like hotel features than RV options, adding some privacy and light adjustment to the personal sanctuary.
While there's no LPG or water storage on board, the MyRoom does feature electrical power. Nissan adds in the "Portable Battery from Leaf" power station it developed in conjunction with JVC Kenwood and 4R Energy last year. The all-in-one rechargeable power station relies on repurposed battery cells from the Nissan Leaf to deliver 100-V AC power for plugging in appliances and electronics. It's neatly integrated in the van behind the wood paneling to provide a more residential-style plug-in experience.
The MyRoom will hit Nissan's Japanese dealership network this month as both a 2WD and 4WD available in several trims. Pricing will start at ¥5,516,500 (approx. US$37,475).
Source: Nissan (Japanese)
