The German-made Geist Phantom is one of the best motorhome designs we've seen in this country. We checked one out in Australian conditions and came away with some suggestions for the makers

You have to take your hat off to the Europeans: when it comes to matters of style they have stacks of je ne sais quoi, that indefinable fashion flair. The German-made Geist Phantom has loads of it.

The two available Phantom models share the same moulded body work that integrates well with the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter cab and nestles low down on the chassis. This smooth styling is complemented by swing-up rear wheel arch 'spats' that lift to allow flat-tyre changes.

Talking Technically

Open the cabin doors and you're met by a pair of Italian Aguti seats with twin arm rests. The checked upholstery is, er, arresting, but the seats offer great support on long trips and swivel around to face the dinette. Above the front seats is a storage area that combines style with function: twin cupboards with slatted, sliding aluminium shutters and bins with 'fiddle' load retainers, plus a shelf with an attractive metal rail.

A forward facing, ADR-compliant seat aft of the dinette is fitted with twin lap/sash belts, giving the Phantom legal four-seat capacity. With the front seats swivelled, the dinette capacity goes up to four and the side settee can accommodate two more, making the Phantom a true party vehicle.

The RHS opening side door has a solid/mesh mode, an electric step below and three small spotlights above the entrance. The door opens into the galley where there's a glass-lidded, three-burner cooktop, a glass-lidded sink and an oven. Storage space is available in four overhead cupboards, two drawers and an aluminium-slatted cupboard under the sink.

The slatted cupboard echoes the cabin cupboards and the theme continues into the spacious bathroom, where there's a curved entry door and a round-fronted cupboard. The shower screen is also curved and the Thetford loo swivels for optimum positioning.

The galley also houses a two-door fridge, with a cupboard containing a TV, complete with aerial jacks, sitting above it. All the 'white goods' including the 240V roof-mounted airconditioner, are Dometic.

On the Inside

Our test vehicle was the RG - Rear Garage - model that features a high-mounted rear double bed, with a pair of stylish steps and a grab pole, for easy access.

The payoff for having the high-set bed comes when you hop outside and open the rear-access doors. Below the bed is a cavernous storage area that will swallow a pair of bikes or a light motor scooter. The plated payload capacity of this rear section is 150kg.

There is a pair of storage areas on the left side of the bodywork, and twin 9kg gas bottles and the toilet cassette are accessed on the right hand side. All the exterior hatches and doors have spring-loaded catches that lock with just a single key.

The roof hatch, lift-up and sliding windows are fitted with beautifully designed blind/mesh covers and we judged the fresh-air ventilation to be excellent.

The Geist certainly left 'the mark of the Phantom' on us, or rather, we did on it. Our overall impression was one of brilliant design, but less-than-brilliant execution.

For a start, the curved, sliding door to the bathroom was unlocked when we picked up the vehicle. Not knowing any better we drove the vehicle until we heard a crash and pulled up to investigate. The door had slid forward, snapping out of the end of the decorative pelmet and pulling the door stop out of the floor. The pelmet cap proved to be only lightly stapled in place and the door stop was 'retained' by a small self-tapper.

When we swivelled the front seats the knurled end caps for the seat rake adjusters simply fell off, because there are no grub screws to hold the knobs onto the shafts.

As we pulled our test load out of the 'garage' we accidentally flicked the cover off one of the garage lights. These are mounted with overlap so the inbuilt on-off switches make contact with the doors, but remote-mounted lights with recessed door switches would be less obtrusive.

The fly-mesh door catch is a friction type that unlatches too easily when bumped.

The extendable dinette table clips together securely in both positions, but we were far less enthusiastic about its lower-set arrangement, where it forms part of a bed conversion. When in place, the forward bed has four cushions making up the mattress and the table top, the forward-facing seat and an extendable slatted base (with pop-in legs) that slides out from under the settee as the bed base. It's all a bit complex and we reckon the Phantom would be best treated as a home for two, with periodic sleep-overs by two small grandchildren.

In the End

The Geist Phantom RG is built on an excellent chassis, with great performance and has innovative design. However, we would like to see the fitting strength of some items increased. These aren't major issues and most could be inexpensively rectified by clever Aussie RV technicians.

The Phantom's RRP of $180,000 (+ORC) seems a bit high, but the test vehicle we borrowed from David Carlon Motors in Unanderra NSW was going for a relative bargain price of $160,000 on the road.

Article published in Caravan + RV magazine, Autumn 2008.