2024 Chausson X650 Exclusive Line motorhome

Welcome to a motorhome that offers something more than a van conversion, or indeed just another coachbuilt. It’s actually a very narrow-bodied variant of the latter, a sister model to the trend-setting, 6m long X550 motorhome from French manufacturer Chausson.

The longer Chausson X650 motorhome here was introduced for the 2024 season and keeps the same, slimline extrovert looks, but – at 6.36m overall length – Chausson’s designers have been able to come up with a clever wardrobe/dressing area over a garage at the back.

In this video, we take a look inside the all-new Chausson X650 Exclusive Line motorhome:

Bodywork is the same as its X550 sister, an exterior that more than hints at something a bit different. All the exterior, including the underfloor, is GRP-faced and is backed by a seven-year warranty.

Distinctive graphics and mouldings certainly help the Chausson X650 motorhome stand out from the white-box-on-wheels brigade, with complements like the blue trimwork and black alloy wheels all adding to a very modern look.

Fiat’s Ducato base vehicle, for so long the main carrier for all types of motorhomes, might be feeling its age these days, but it’s certainly been given a new lease of life here. It comes with a 140bhp engine and six-speed manual transmission as standard along with the usual Fiat criticism that trading up to more power and/or automatic transmission carries considerable financial penalties.

Because it’s a coachbuilt body grafted onto the cab, there’s that bit more room in key areas (the washroom, for instance) than a van conversion can give you.

The secret – or rather, one of them in an overall design that isn’t afraid to try something different – is the whole clothes storage section can be raised or lowered depending on how much externally-accessed boot space you want underneath, where the garage can take a couple of bikes and more, if and when you want.

The Chausson X650 Exclusive Line is a four-berth motorhome that also has plenty of extra daytime seating space for extra guests, with a lounge consisting of two inward-facing settees along with height-adjustable swivel cab seats, all sitting around a fixed pedestal leg table with a hinged top that folds over when you need an easy passageway past.

In travel mode, there’s an Aguti forward-facing seat, with Isofix, that unfolds from each settee base (and there’s even a full-height external locker to stow the now redundant settee cushions). Bear in mind, the space taken up by travel seats like this in areas that would otherwise be used for storage, although the X650 garage more than compensates.

Unlike the original X550, there are windows to both sides of the lounge area, both with black plastic panel surrounds, with the UK offside window benefiting from a concertina blind and flyscreen, while on the opposite side there’s just a roll-down fabric curtain. These windows are supplemented by an opening sunroof over the cab, a fixed window in the habitation door and two rooflights.

The kitchen itself is just beyond the habitation door, which is on the UK offside. The Thetford cooker here has two gas rings and an electric hotplate, with a combined grill and oven. There’s good storage in terms of drawer space – the top one has a cutlery tray – and a double locker overhead. The circular sink has a loose cover that can also be used as a chopping board. There’s some permanent worktop, but no extension to this.

Opposite the kitchen, and squeezed in between the washroom and the dressing area, the slimline fridge is a large-capacity (150-litre) compressor model with a freezer compartment.

The washroom itself has a space-efficient tambour door and includes a swivel-bowl toilet and a generously deep handbasin on a wall that swings around to create a fully-enclosed shower area, where an inset wooden duckboard is already in place underfoot (there are two plugholes here, too, for more efficient drainage). Storage here includes a shelved locker, there’s a rooflight overhead, and a large mirror.

Slide back the door beyond the washroom and kitchen and you enter what Chausson likes to call its Smart Dressing Room (or SDR). There is indeed a generous area of space here to change clothes, store items etc, with that clever wardrobe set across the back – with drawers and lots of open shelving plus a hanging rail fixed to the ceiling. Set at its highest level, it gives you garage access, or it can be lowered completely to floor level, or indeed anywhere between the two.

Sleeping in the Chausson X650 Exclusive Line motorhome is courtesy of two double beds, the main one an electrically operated drop-down unit over the lounge, where the seating converts into a second bed.

Both are a generous enough 1.90m x 1.40m, with the upper bed on a specially designed one-piece mattress on slats for support and ventilation.

Overall specification is very good, too. There’s the likes of diesel-fuelled Truma Combi heating and hot water system, pre-wiring for a reversing camera and solar panel, a good mix of USB and mains sockets, and more. But you will probably want to add in at least one of the three main options packs.

See the Chausson X650 motorhome as an attempt to reach out to the more style-conscious, but with a vehicle that’s also incredibly practical. And it starts off pretty reasonably priced. But then come those Pack extras.

To find out more about insuring a Chausson X650 or your current motorhome visit our motorhome insurance discounts page.

Verdict: Something of a trendsetter that looks and feels the part

Plus: Full coachbuilt facilities in van conversion dimensions, stylish and practical

Minus: Too radical for the UK?

In-a-nutshell: One of Chausson’s finest

Alternatives: Adria Matrix 600 DT*, Auto-Trail Excel 675B**, Benimar Mileo 286*, Roller Team T-Line 590* *standard-width bodies (Fiat-based) **Ford-based