2020-present HYMER GRAND CANYON S 600

Each month Gentleman Jack focuses on a great secondhand mainstream motorhome, then tells you which is the best of the bunch, what to pay and which problems to look for

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Hymer is well known for producing totally palatial A-class (integral) motorhomes and luxurious coachbuilts. Newer readers may not be aware that their early conversions were all based on panel vans.

In addition, they have continued to build them ever since, though only relatively recently have they gained real market penetration in the UK.

This month we are looking at their game-changing Mercedes-Benz Sprinter-based Grand Canyon S - more recently known as the Grand Canyon 600 to differentiate it from the 700, its younger but longer GC sibling.

Sprinter has just celebrated its 30th birthday. At its launch, I commented that its relatively narrow track and slimmer body than its market sector rivals might limit the van's appeal as a motorcaravan base vehicle, and that both were likely to broaden.

Wrong! The body remains narrower than its Sevel and Ford rivals, and motorcaravan conversions are strong sellers all around the globe.

The principal disadvantage of its svelteness is that it is impossible to have a transverse bed of practical length for adults. Wrong again!

Hymer has a clever workaround for this problem. Towards the rear, the body has been widened by the inclusion at window height of colour-matched moulded pods on each side, to facilitate a full-length transverse bed.

These have been designed and made to integrate with the body, as if they were part of the original build. They ain't, but they could have been... reflecting how well executed they are.

Grand Canyon S 600 retains all five doors, resulting in easy loading of bulky items, a task aided by designing the 'permanent' rear bed in a way that enables it to hinge against the sides.