2019 Cabanon Mercury trailer tent review: Camping & Caravanning

The Camping and Caravanning Club’s Technical Manager Ian Hewlett and Chris Richardson from Black Country Caravans pitch the latest four- (or perhaps eight-) berth trailer tent from French company Cabanon, which celebrates 60 years in business this year.
Narrator: Test Editor Candy Evans

* The driving licence regulations have changed since this was published. If you hold a standard car driving licence you can now tow most caravans, unless your licence was issued in Northern Ireland.
Check our Driving Licence Data Sheet for more up-to-date details.

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[zobo]

Wow lovely trailer tent! Looks so simple to put up 😍

[plouise]

This looks amazing. My daughter and I will never get bored with this attached to the car.

[claireabbotts]

This looks amazing and so spacious would make a fantastic holiday to build lots of memories entered a competition in the hope to win this amazing trailer tent as we will be set for life for holidays with my children xx

[sarahmiller]

Never considered one of these - looks like the perfect compromise between the fun of camping and the investment of a caravan or camper van

[andrewjones-productions]

As a Japan resident, this kind of trailer tent is a no-no. The simple reason being that the light clusters and more importantly, the number plate being affixed to the removable kitchen. In Japan, the law dictates that trailers are registered as a vehicle and have their own number plate. So far so good. However, the admittedly rather strict law here states that the number plate must be permanently affixed to the vehicle. The top-left screw is covered with a special seal at the local Land Transport Bureau. There are exemptions for certain cars such as the Mitsubishi Pajero and Jeep Wrangler, but they are incredibly inflexible when it comes to trailers. If the kitchen were hinged on a non-removable basis, it would likely pass the Land Transport Bureau's stringent checks. The only thing going for it (in terms of Japan) is that its maximum laden weight being 750kg, which is the threshold for driving on a regular car licence or needing to have a towing licence (here in Japan).

Regardless of domicile, that kitchen looks heavy and it is empty. Fill it up with your pots, pans and groceries and it looks like a real pain to lift off and probably more so to put back on the trailer. The real killer is the 1 hour set-up time for the entire outfit. I think Cabanon need to go back to the drawing board. It may be made of quality materials, but I am not impressed even considering that it is designed for the European market.