The following is a report from Auto Evolution.
There are a few powerhouse countries when it comes to RV and camper living, and Japan rarely, if ever, comes up in the conversation. Well, there seems to be plenty to see out there, so let’s kick back and explore one of the nation’s best-known designs.
That RV is the Regard Neo+, a mobile home built upon a Toyota Camroad chassis and showing all the essentials we’d need to live a comfortable life on the road, but, as I like to call it, in a Bento Box with wheels.
I consider it a Bento Box with wheels because this thing is as compact as you can get when it comes to RV living. And yes, it has a whole lot to do with the way people are made on that side of the world; they’re a bit smaller.
The average height difference between American (taller) and Japanese (shorter) men is about two inches.
If you’ve never heard of a Toyota Camroad, let me point out that the one used as a chassis here is powered by a 2,754 cc, in-line 4-cylinder diesel engine with a peak of 106 kW (142 hp) at 3,400 RPM and can produce 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) of torque between 1,600 and 3,200 RPM.
Now, having absolutely no knowledge of the Regard or the minds and hands behind the design, I dove in deeper and found out that this one’s the work of LT Campers. However, the Regard Neo+.
According to LT Campers, the Neo is an RV from the folks at Yokohama Motor Sales, and over the years, LT started selling it, updating it, and eventually, in 2019, they were granted exclusive rights to the Regard and started to take this RV design into the future, so to speak.
It’s also on LT’s webpage that we can find some information as to what the Regard can do, what it has to offer, and how much we can expect to drop on one.
The first and most important piece of information that I want to point out is this RV’s ability to accommodate up to six people, and that’s in sleeping mode. During transit, up to nine folks can be accommodated. Sounds pretty unbelievable, but the proof is in one of the videos from LT, found below.
In this 35-minute clip, we can see that the forward lounge is crafted with multiple seats. These seats typically accommodate up to two people each, with one bench appearing to accommodate three guests. Add the passenger and driver, and we have nine.
For sleeping, the forward lounge transforms into a bedroom, and at the rear of the Regard, a double-bunk system is present. According to the spec sheet, the upper bed is larger than the lower one and can accommodate around two guests, most likely in an adult-and-child configuration. The lower bunk, on the other hand, appears to be capable of housing only a single adult.
Read the full Auto Evolution report here.
