widemouthfrog said:

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I've seen that before somewhere on t'internet. That would be awesome for camping, but not nearly as discrete for pulling over in a lay-by for a nap as would being able to kip in the back would be.

I'd love to see what it's like folded down though, and how much room is in there - does anyone have any more pictures?

They were made by a company called Wheelhome. I've just googled it and found one for sale:

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Motorhomes/Classified/Motorhomes/Contact_cl37398

I've got no connection with the seller whatsoever so don't come crying to me if the wheels fall off. But the pictures in the ad are quite interesting. The interior looks to be of a reasonably high standard. It must be pretty snug for sleeping in though!

I can also remember the last time I googled Wheelhome the main website had warinings flagged up about it being likely source of PC virus. Not sure why that was, so I gave it a wide berth. I'm not even sure if the company is still going.

Thanks - I thought I'd read somewhere about it being a wheelhome, but it's not listed on their website as being a past (or indeed current) model.

I'm never sure with these things where you sleep - is it in the pop up bit? Or is that just for headroom?

Maybe a bit of overkill for me, I'd just like to be able to pull over and have a kip comfortably - if British Leyland was able to fit a double bed of sorts in a Maxi (wheelbase shorter than a Corsa) then it must be possible in a Multipla. If all the seats folded flat like the rears and front middle you could just put an airbed on top.

Don't forget a Multipla is shorter than a Golf, so any kind of bed is going to be a tight fit!

I've seen a picture in a Multipla brochure, though it's not in the 2003 one that I've got, showing all the seats (with their headrests removed) fully reclined and mounted so that all the seats form one big, fairly flat 'mattress'. I've never tried this so I don't know how much of a fiddle it is.

That'd do me - didn't think the rears folded flat that way though (mine's a 2001)

I will experiment!

There is this option too - http://www.swissroombox.com/swissRoomBox-movie.html - it'll fit in a Multipla. http://www.swissroombox.com/swissRoomBox-yourCarOK_files/measure-compact.pdf

Moving swiftly away from camping in them my Multipla has already been lowered quite a lot, diesel chipped and sits on 17" wheels and generally goes and turns really well. However time and money permitting I would really like to:

Fully retrim the interior in a mixture of leather and alcantara.

Fit the Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo engine, gearbox and brakes.

Have carbon fibre (body-coloured, I'm not that bad) bumpers, bonnet, sills, front & rear wings fitted to reduce weight.

Have a really good paint job done with well thought out colours.

Oh and try and fit 18's but I guess that would mean cutting arches out.

Is this sad? Probably.

That sounds great, but I'd rather stick with diesel (prefer torque to power) so I'll sick with the 2.4 20v multijet.

Incidentally, a longer version does exist - they built two for the 2004 Olympics apparently

http://sbarro.perso.neuf.fr/voitures/multipla/multiplagb.html

Ok. The bed issue.

I have just been playing with my '57 plated Nosejob.

The passenger and driver seat do fold virtually flat. The rear seats behind these two front seats recline to about two thirds toward being flat. Thus you end up with two adequate single beds!

Here's what you do.

1. Slide the driver's and passenger seat as far forward as they will go.

2. Remove the headrests from these seats (they do come out - standard push in button on one stem and look very closely on the plastic at the base of the other stem and there is a push in section. Not easy to see, but it's there.)

3. Recline seats until they are level with the rear seat squab behind.

4. Remove parcel shelf.

5. Recline rear seats as far as they will go. There you go, a single bed!

6. Lounge or doze, whichever you prefer.


If the front seat backs overlap or miss the rear seat squab, realign the rear seat in it's floor catches to get it in the correct place.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work with the middle seat as it doesn't slide forward enough or recline enough either. However, if you were to remove the centre rear seat and fold the front center one down into its picnic tray position, you have a useable overnight camper.

Pictures below. Hope this helps.

momoe said:

6 speed gearbox together with cruise control would improve economy and reduce noise levels at motorway speeds.

2.4 JTD engine would be too heavy, Multi's break enough front springs as it is!
JTD 1.9 16v unit puts out 140bhp which is enough of an increase to make it markedly better without having to change brakes/gearbox etc.

Click to expand...

You can see Multipla with 1,9 Multijet 16v here:


In standard it has 150bhp. There is some things to do, but it works.
Next thing to do is to put 6 speed gearbox.

I've been musing on this again, as I do.

Suspension has been mentioned - self levelling would be great as has been said, because at the moment one suspension setting has to cope with 'empty' to 'three fat lads' to 'a pallet full of stuff' so it's inevitably compromised.

Because of the short wheelbase is can also be a bit choppy, and the height means it leans a bit.

And then I thought - why not fit the clever suspension from a Citroen to it? It seems mental that for years Citroen plugged away with their amazing suspension, and now, when all the cars they seem to sell are Picassas, which would benefit hugely from it, they only put it on their top of the range cars.

Anyway - lovely active suspension that had 'comfort' (i.e pot hole ridden city), normal and hard settings would be amazing. It would prevent roll and mean it was always level too.

So, my semi-serious list:

The new 2.0 JTD (seems to be more powerful and more efficient than the 1.9 - about 175bhp / 300lb-ft would be just lovely)
Six speed gearbox
Option of q2 limited slip diff (for getting off muddy campsites rather than perfomance, although it would help with both)
Optional AWD (presume the system from the Sedici would fit with longer shafts?)
All seats including drivers fold flat so you can put an airbed on top
All seats except drivers seat removable
Panoramic glass roof
Sat Nav screen that folds out of the top of the drivers side glovebox / cubby hole thing.
Active suspension from a Citroen or similar

So, I think a lowered, higher powered version of the JTD would be fab. Something high enough to get over even the most pesky of speed control measures but low enough to not feel like you're sat atop a flagpole in a force ten, when you hit a corner. Deffo some better interior, all black paintork, blue tint and blue interior??? Really? WTF were Fiat thinking. Did they ever do a leather option?