David Coombes, the founder of Afrispoor says, “From my own experience, there was a real need for a reliable and easy to use camping trailer capable of being towed off-road. At the time, choices were limited and trailers that were available often came limping home with a broken this or that and needed a lot of maintenance and repair work before the next trip. Clothes got covered in dust, nothing was easy to get to and there really was a gap in the market. With many years of experience of camping and outdoor adventures, and some input from others using camping trailers, Afrispoor was started and we began designing and building trailers for off-road camping. Afrispoor trailers are built with all these elements in mind from the dust and water to bumps, ruts and rust to deliver a hassle-free, easy-to-use custom built off-road caravan. With the evolution of off-road camping, our caravans have taken centre stage, being a natural progression from our trailers as we work to meet the needs and demands of our customers.”
Overall Length of the Cheetah is 4450 (tow hitch to rear) and construction is made from 3CR12 stainless steel with a steel chassis that has been hot dip galvanised. The doors, roof and front lid are all manufactured out of aliminium. The Cheetah’s load body is painted with high quality automotive 2K paint and baked for a robust finish. Electrics are 100 Amp deep-cycle battery mounted in a battery box with a 12v fuse box. There is a 220v caravan plug inlet and electrical board with circuit breakers and plug points.
The Cheetah is available in two main configurations. The standard camper is the traditional fold-open front design. This is the area containing the main bed and with this design you ideally require 2 people to close up the front section in order to make sure your canvas is properly tucked away and seals properly. The second version is called the Eezy Camper and this offers a new innovative design. The front section literally slides out and with that, effectively allows one person to easily open and close up the front section without any hassle. It just slides closed on heavy duty rails. Suspension is made up of 32” 8 blade springs with heavy duty shock absorbers. It has a 2500kg braked axle, an auto reverse front coupler with handbrake, two quick-release stabiliser legs at the back and one at the front. Wheels are shod with 15” tyres and aliminium mag rims as standard.
The kitchen unit is fitted on solid roller sliders with roller drawers with foam base for crockery, roller drawers for storage and cutlery, a wash basin and drip tray. There is a 105L water tank with pressure pump and tap with hot and cold water, a Dometic 2 plate stainless steel stove and a National Luna 90L fridge/freezer.
The Cheetah has lots of storage for clothes and other necessities. The front tent opens from the front lid into a bed over the tow hitch and the queen size bed (2250mm x 1500mm) comes with a supplied mattress. The fold-out side bed with tent and awning (1800mm x 1400mm) also has a mattress supplied. Mosquito nets are fitted on all the windows and an additional storm cover is fitted over the tent. There is also an L-shaped awning (270 deg swing type awning) over the kitchen and the rear of the camper’s standard awning. The pop up roof increases head room and improves ventilation.
All in all, the Afrispoor Cheetah has been a formidable competitor in this year’s competition and deserves its top ten finish.