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AUTO-TRAIL EXCEL 690L
Price from: £65,582
Berths: 3 Travel seats: 4
Base vehicle: Ford Transit
Length: 6.90m
Gross weight: 3,500kg
Remember the Excel, the compact low-profile range from Auto-Trail that ran from 2009 to 2011? Well, maybe it was ahead of its time, because now that moniker returns on a brand-new range for 2024 that again boasts a slightly slimmer overall width than a typical coachbuilt motorhome.
The newcomers are 2.24m wide and, this time, they're based on the Ford Transit with a low-frame, wide-rear-track chassis. Choose from four layouts, ranging from 6.20m to 6.90m long: two with fixed beds (singles or a transverse double) and two without (end washroom and garage or a rear lounge). They are targeted, Auto-Trail says, at customers looking to upgrade from a campervan for more space and greater storage.
All models have a 3,500kg gross weight and yet payloads are generous (570kg for this 690L model), while prices start at £61,634 ( for the 620G). The options and packs saw the total for our test vehicle rise to a less than budget figure of over £74k.
For that price, however, you get the company's most contemporary-looking motorhome yet with an all-new design inside and out. The rear of the ’van has a particularly cohesive aesthetic and there are practical touches like
