All campers face a dilemma: They should be as compact and manoeuvrable as possible on the outside and spacious on the inside. Major manufacturer Knaus Tabbert is breaking new ground and integrating solutions in its Tourer CUV that are otherwise only known from the individual conversion scene. CUV stands for Caravaning Utility Vehicle and is intended to emphasize versatility. The Tourer is based on Volkswagen’s T 6.1, so it’s just about a Bulli-class vehicle. A T6 is still perfectly suitable for everyday use. Knaur wants it to drive like a family van and still allow for spacious motorhome living. Overall, the full length measures 5.88 meters.
Great interior height
The highlight is certainly the pop-up roof. In a normal transporter of this size you can only move on your knees. The roof of the CUV is raised up to a real headroom of two meters. Pop-up roofs are nothing new on their own, but most often they are constructed as a wedge over an inner part of the roof. One long side is then firmly connected to the roof with a hinge and only the other side goes up. Knaus Tabbert is now daring to do a much more sophisticated construction: The roof is raised evenly over its full length and width.
The vehicle itself is not a metal-walled van. In the case of the semi-integrated vehicle, only the driver’s cab comes from VW, the rest of the structure from Knaus Tabbert. So the T6 grows in length and width. And this is the only way it should have been possible to integrate the retractable roof. A second double bed can be inserted in the headlining. The second highlight is on the ground floor. The double bed is conventionally housed in the rear, underneath there is a high storage space that can be reached from both sides. But part of the bed can be folded up. Then the second part of the “bathroom” unfolds – half of which otherwise disappears into the wall.
The idea is known from the scene of individual extensions. The advantage is that the bathroom only needs fixtures up to hip height and the bed space above that. With the bed folded down, a small wet cell is available, which is transformed into a very spacious bathroom. A kitchen is mandatory. A rear bench offers space for two more people.
Prices will be announced at the Düsseldorf Caravan Salon 2022 in August.