While Citroën seduces motorcyclists with its big, cavernous Biker Solution camper vans, sister brand Peugeot is busy appealing more to frugal, efficient nomads. At this year's Düsseldorf Caravan Salon, Peugeot will be putting the focus on compact but livable camper vans. Both the Partner Alpin Camper and Irmscher Traveller capitalize on efficient, space-saving layouts to offer cozy living in the great outdoors.
Bavaria's Alpin Camper does conversion work on the VW T6, a mid-size van, but its real bread and butter is mini-campervans based on small vans like the VW Caddy and Nissan NV200. It's even made an all-electric mini-campervan out of the Nissan e-NV200.
The latest clay from which Alpin molds a habitable sculpture is the new Peugeot Partner. You may have missed it, but Peugeot debuted the new Partner panel van in 2018, a few months after the Geneva Motor Show debut of the new Rifter passenger van and flashy Rifter 4x4 off-road camper van concept. The Partner/Rifter is the smallest model in Peugeot's van lineup, measuring between 440 and 475 cm (173 and 187 in), which happens to be right in Alpin's wheelhouse.
Alpin Camper uses the same general layout in the Partner as it does with other small vans, setting an extendable sofa opposite a kitchen block. That sofa pulls out into a bed with very cozy 112 x 195-cm (44 x 77-in) dimensions. Below the sofa, two under-seat storage drawers offer space for clothing and other belongings, while the frontmost drawer is actually a small compressor fridge. Across the aisle, the passenger-side kitchen block includes a cartridge stove and a sink hooked to fresh and waste water tanks. The conversion even includes a parking heater with LCD temperature control.
Peugeot will host the public world premiere of the Partner Alpin camper van at the Caravan Salon, which begins on August 30.
Moving up in van size but down in interior living space, Peugeot will also be showing a Traveller converted by way of the Ischer iBox plug-and-play camper module. A rebranded variant of the Czech-designed Egoé Nest, the iBox packs a fold-out bed atop a slide-out kitchen box, offering an easy way to repurpose van into road trip-ready camper van.
The iBox kitchen includes a dual-burner stove, slide-out for small fridge, sink and storage drawers. The sink can collapse and fold flat against the face of the kitchen, providing access to the worktop next to the stove. The deployable faucet is attached to a 70-cm (28-in) hose, allowing it to work as a shower and sprayer.
Inside, the bed deploys quickly to fill out the width of the cabin with a 140 x 192-cm (55 x 76-in) mattress.
Peugeot's announcement doesn't list pricing for either of these camper van models, but Irmscher prices the full Traveller-compatible iBox kit (kitchen and fold-out bed, fridge sold separately) at €4,707 (approx. US$5,225). Listings for Alpin Campers show pricing starting around €29,600 (US$32,850) for a new Nissan NV200 camper van.
We'll be stopping by Peugeot's booth at this year's Caravan Salon to get more details about these two vans and to see the variety of other Peugeot-based motorhomes it'll have on display.
Source: Peugeot Germany
