Overview

VIEWINGS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

6.70m Width: 2.35m Height: 2.89m Gross weight: 3,650kg Payload: 550kg

A stunning A Class Motorhome, enhanced by Rapido's high quality build and attention to detail this ixample has covered very little mileage, has a host of optional extras to include the Ducato 9 speed gearbox.

For a start, the 854F has a garage. Not a little bit of external storage under the settees that you might squeeze folding bikes into, but a proper garage. It has a full-sized loading door on the offside, a small hatch on the nearside and an internal height of 1.18m. Width is a maximum of 0.58m and maximum load is 150kg.

There’s no back window because above the garage is a set of cupboards across the rear, with storage revealed behind three tall sliding doors. In the centre is a glazed section, putting your choice of wine on display in the cave while, to the left, is a generous wardrobe (hanging height 980mm, width 710mm). If you think that will be difficult to reach, stretching across the settee below, think again, as Rapido has added an arm that pulls the hanging rail out and down towards you, bringing your fresh shirt within easy grasp.

This is, after all, an exceptionally comfortable place to relax, with well-judged seating – in a smart leather finish that seems to strike exactly the right balance for firmness, height and backrest shape. The dining table is a permanent fixture but, because it rotates, folds in half and even lowers, it doesn’t seem intrusive. You can comfortably stretch out.

Artificial lighting is good, too, and there are rear speakers as well as no less than six USB ports.

The offside sofa does, however, hide another useful area of storage, while the seating also conceals the 120-litre inboard fresh water tank, the Combi boiler and the two leisure batteries.

There’s also a removable section of settee on the nearside – lift this out and you can have two rear travel seats, facing each other, pullman-style. Both pews have a three-point seatbelt and a head restraint (removable when on site).

This particular 854F also introduces another option – at an additional cost of £1,350 when new. Over the rear lounge is an electric drop-down bed that is longer, but slightly slimmer, than the one up front. It comes down lower, too, (to just 900mm off the floor), so it has more headroom, although you can also stop the bed halfway, allowing use of both rear beds, but not the upper bed and the lounge at the same time.

You might also appreciate the fact that both captain’s chairs in the cab swivel, so there’s a second seating area when the back is still a bedroom. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the amount of space here.

The galley is surprisingly long and the L-shape towards the rear provides more separation between lounge and kitchen. That design adds extra workspace, too, as does the three-burners- in-line hob mounted well back in the counter. The raised serving shelf is a novel addition but, if you don’t like it, or need more clear worktop, it simply unclips. Removing the adjacent head restraint also makes for a more open feel.

The kitchen looks good, too, with its backlit splashback and contrasting black handles. The décor here is Bellagio (with the addition of extra-cost gloss top lockers) but you do get a comprehensively appointed space with an extractor hood, an oven/grill that’s conveniently located, a slide-out unit for bottles and tins, a large cutlery drawer and a super-deep pull-out for pots and pans. There’s even a hideaway tea towel rail, while all the drawers are locked electrically at the flick of a switch.

Then, at the forward end of the galley, is a tall/slim fridge with generous capacity and automatic energy selection – as well as yet more worktop above. There’s a second 230V socket here, too, in a more practical position than the one behind the sink.



Opposite the kitchen, unsurprisingly, is the washroom, but very welcome is the fact that the furniture finishes well clear of the cab on either side, leaving plenty of space for the passenger to recline and for the driver to be long legged. There’s even a set of coat hooks fitted here.

Inside the washroom, there’s loads of leg and shoulder room when sitting on the Thetford swivel cassette loo, while two large mirrors and a rooflight prevent any feeling of this being a small space. The high-quality Argo metal tap is another plus, while shelf and cupboard space is pretty generous, too.

It does provide a duckboard, although it conceals just a single outlet in the shower tray. Swing the mirrored wall to the right, so the basin moves over the toilet, however, and you’ll have no issues with the size of this shower. It even reveals a basket on the wall for your shampoo.


This motorhome is the facelifted Fiat and comes with the digital dashboard display, Roll Over Mitigation, towing stability control and automatic post-collision braking.

The 854F’s ratio of long wheelbase to short rear overhang makes it feel exceptionally stable on the road plus the fact that 160bhp gives fairly spritely performance, combined with the excellent easygoing nature of the optional nine-speed automatic gearbox.