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JOHN FORD
CARAVAN WORLD EDITOR-AT-LARGE
BUILD QUALITY
The Signature Rugrat X stands as a unique entry at our Australia's Best Hybrids event. Mark from Signature Campers built this prototype with young families in mind, guessing that there would be many families keen on the camping lifestyle who weren't planning hardcore offroad travel.
Despite a sturdy construction and beefy suspension, this is more a soft-roader destined mainly for Hipcamps and caravan parks with provided shower and toilet facilities. The Rugrat X has an external shower tent that deploys from its storage box at the back of the van, but the toilet is limited to a Porta Potti that could be set up in an outside structure.
The imported body has a 25mm x 25mm x 2mm box section aluminium frame clad in fibreglass for the walls and roof; unusually, the internal walls are composite aluminium sheeting. Underneath is a heavy-duty steel chassis and independent trailing arm suspension with locally installed specially tuned Tough Dog 4WD Suspension shock absorbers.
Front and rear scrub bars protecting the lower sections of the body add an authoritative dimension, while a ladder to a sturdy-looking roof rack speaks of a practical side and adds valuable storage for water toys and other equipment.
All the electronics are high quality, and I liked the internal joinery's neat installation and attention to detail. Even with add-ons like the scrub bars, ladder and roof rack, the tare weight has been kept to a little over 2000kg, which shows an appreciation for keeping weight down, which is sometimes overlooked in this market sector.
EASE OF USE
The Rugrat X shows refreshing attention to keeping things simple. Themeans there's no pop-top to contend with, and the lack of a fold-down rear bed reduces setup time considerably. The trade-off is the loss of an internal ensuite, but this is a deliberate choice for a van destined for caravan park living.
