We met up with the current owners of this extremely low mileage import to find out what we thought of this well-kept secret, a genuine 8 seater pop-top camper. They had wanted a pop-top camper with lots of seats, and were planning to get a Mazda Bongo with a removable kitchen unit in the back; the plan was to keep all 8 seats for the school run during the week, and then take their three kids camping at the weekend. The back bench would be removed and replaced with the kitchen unit, leaving the middle 3-seat bench and front seats to make a bed of sorts. The kids would go in the roof.

However, there were a few issues that were niggling them about buying a Bongo. Firstly, Bongo seats do not make a good bed. Whatever way you fold them, they are seat shaped and lumpy. Yes you can stick an air mattress on top, but what kind of a campervan is that? Secondly, once their kids were in the roof and the bed was made up, they couldn’t get out. Clearly Mazda designer’s kids don’t need to wee in the night. There didn't seem to be any other way in a Bongo than wake everyone up, collapse up the bed, lift up the floor and climb out. Thirdly, if you put the kitchen unit in the back of a Bongo, which is the only sensible place to put it if you want to take in and out, you can’t stand up to cook/wash up. The Bongo roof hinges a few feet from the rear of the van, and in that section you can’t stand up. Basically, if you want to stand up to cook, the kitchen needs to be in the middle… which doesn’t quite work because then you can’t make a bed. Which is why they were drawn to this Reimo-roof HiAce.

The Reimo pop-top has a second hinge in it, meaning that you can stand up almost all the way to the back. At the front there is a gap wide enough for an average sized person to get in and (more importantly in the middle of the night) out of the roof space, which is bigger than a Bongo’s too they remarked. This camper even has a cupboard with a Portapotti in it! Weeing worries solved - all important issues when catering for children.

Out on the open road we enjoyed the Toyota's still-tight feel, which backs up the lowly 30,000 miles the camper has covered over in Japan. In town one of our test drivers remarked that the height and width of the van were both well up to navigating most of the UK's narrow streets, but she felt daunted by the possibility of a reverse parking situation. Remember, this is a full 8 seater and definitely a long vehicle. We got used to parking her after a day or so, it's worth practicising in a quiet car park until your happy with your campers size.

There aren't many campers quite like this - vehicles with an 8 seater capacity and a pop top are rare to say the least, so you'll know if you need one of these. A slightly more modern kitchen would nicely update the campervan, but overall it's certainly a lot of adaptable campervan for the money.