Automotive

Compact, cozy $53,000 camper van carries four people and a bathroom

View 23 Images
The Karmann Danny 530 is based on a 5,399-mm-long Fiat Talento with 120-hp 1.6-liter DCI engine
Karmann Mobil
The Karmann Danny 530 is based on a 5,399-mm-long Fiat Talento with 120-hp 1.6-liter DCI engine
Karmann Mobil
With four sleeping berths the Danny 530 is a family camper van ... or a good solution for the young couple that might have a family soon
Karmann Mobil
Karmann debuted the Danny 530 at the 2018 Caravan Salon in August
Karmann Mobil
The rear corner bathroom includes a sink with pull-out faucet/shower head
Karmann Mobil
With no space for a rear bed, Karmann moves the bed amidships, atop the dining/living area
Karmann Mobil
The dinette features four dedicated seats
Karmann Mobil
Day and night floor plans for the Karmann Danny 530
Karmann Mobil
Karmann Danny 530 pop-up roof bed
Karmann Mobil
The Danny 530 includes a 41-L fridge
Karmann Mobil
The kitchen block includes a stove, sink and plenty of storage
Karmann Mobil
Pull-out bathroom faucet
Karmann Mobil
The Danny 530's rear bathroom and passenger-side cabinetry
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
A look at the Danny 530 bathroom from outside the back of the van
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
A peek in at the kitchen area
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
The retractable screen provides some privacy, but the half-height walls limit it
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
The Danny 530's toilet is a bit compact and less-than-private, but it's certainly more civil than digging a hole or using a portable toilet behind the bumper
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
Inside the Danny 530 at the 2018 Caravan Salon
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
The Danny 530 made its debut at the Salon with the smaller Danny 490
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
Karmann Danny 530 at the 2018 Caravan Salon
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
The Karmann Danny 490 pictured debuted alongside the 530 at the Caravan Salon. This model is based on the shorter 4,990-mm Fiat Talento
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
The Danny 490 has more of a classic small camper layout with rear folding bench and swivel driver cab seats
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
The Danny 490 still sleeps four, and it starts at €42,490
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
No bathroom here - the Danny 490 has a more compact layout
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
View gallery - 23 images

The specialists at Westfalia certainly aren't the only ones who see the advantage of shoehorning compact bathrooms into 17-foot vans. The all-new Karmann Danny 530 debuts as a compact, Fiat Talento-based camper van complete with rear bathroom. Karmann uses some serious space-optimization strategies to seat and sleep four people while providing a full kitchen, dining area and wet bath with toilet, sink and shower. And it still keeps the price of its clever pop-top well below €50,000.

Unlike its little brother the Danny 490, the Danny 530 was just a touch too long to make it into our Düsseldorf mini-camper van gallery. Its name suggests it might have slid right inside our 17.4-foot (5.3-m) cutoff, but it actually measures 17.7 feet (5,399 mm) long, so just a little over.

That said, the 530 displays much the same spirit of compact, strategic packaging as its smaller brother and the other small camper vans on that list, managing to fit a bathroom, four dedicated dining seats, four sleeping berths and an L-shaped kitchen inside the Fiat Talento.

The Danny 530 made its debut at the Salon with the smaller Danny 490
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas

The Fiat Ducato is the more popular choice for creating a camper van with bathroom, and we saw plenty of those in Düsseldorf, but there's something much more impressive about including one in a smaller Talento pop-top. Karmann carves out a dedicated bathroom corner at the driver-side rear.

You can enter the bathroom from inside or outside the van, and you'll find a toilet and a sink with pull-out faucet that works as the shower. The van's rear-popping, frontward-sloping roof pushes the 5.9-foot (1.8-m) standing-room apex over to the rear of the van, though the limited bathroom compartment wall height looks to leave something to be desired in the privacy department, should you wish to stand.

A look at the Danny 530 bathroom from outside the back of the van
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas

The Westfalia Ford Nugget Plus is a couple inches shorter in total van length at 17.5 feet (5,339 mm), but it includes a high roof, measuring 9.2 feet (2,800 mm) from ground to rooftop. With its pop-top down, the Danny 530 measures just 6.8 feet (2,060 mm).

The bathroom and adjacent cabinetry take up the entire rear, leaving no room for the type of rear bed that features in many camper van conversions, including the Talento-based Danny 490. Instead, Karmann relies on a central convertible bed that sits over top the dinette and living space next to it, offering a mattress top for two. Two additional campers are accommodated by the pop-up roof bed.

With no space for a rear bed, Karmann moves the bed amidships, atop the dining/living area
Karmann Mobil

During the day, the dinette provides for a dedicated sitting, eating and game-playing space. It includes vis-a-vis two-seat benches with a table between them – the front driver cab seats do not need to swivel to work as dining/living area seating.

Along the passenger side, the Danny 530 houses a long kitchen block with dual-burner stove, sink and plenty of drawers, cabinets and shelves. The 41-L compressor refrigerator is located next to that main block, within the rear cabinet, capping off an L-shaped kitchen layout.

The kitchen block includes a stove, sink and plenty of storage
Karmann Mobil

The Danny 530 comes standard with diesel heating, a 68-L fresh water tank, 59-L waste water tank, outdoor showering, and electrical system with 75-Ah battery. The base Talento is powered by a 120-hp 1.6-liter DCI engine.

The Danny 530 isn't an unprecedented product at Karmann, and was in fact preceded by the Colibri 539, which offers much the same layout inside the Renault Trafic, the Talento's sibling van. The new Danny Talento vans replace the Colibri lineup and sit at the base of Karmann's triple-D family, which also includes the larger Dexter and Davis camper vans.

With a base price of €44,990 (approx. US$53,000), the Danny 590 is an intriguing little camper van for both couples and families. The model we looked over at the Caravan Salon was priced €50,410 ($59,230), with upgrades like a style package, electric-lift roof (mechanical lift is standard), and 143-hp engine.

Source: Karmann

View gallery - 23 images
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
4 comments
Jonathan Colvin
Why is the USA completely unable to make small, reasonably priced campers like this? There is NOTHING like this available in North America at this sort of price.
czechster
Come, like Colvin said, "Why is the USA completely unable to make small, reasonably priced campers like this?" Someone get with the program.
guzmanchinky
How do they pack that in??? I have a Ford E-150 camper that doesn't pack this much into a larger space.
anthonytony0611
So this van is not available in the USA I guess.