Club Campers Brumby vs JAC T9 UTE

What's the difference?

In a camper-trailer market seemingly in danger of being swamped by cheap products of dubious build quality, it is refreshing to see a local mob, Australia’s Cub Campers, persisting with well-built and highly functional camper-trailers packed with standard features and with plenty of optional extras. 

The company's 2.2m rear-fold* line-up includes the Weekender, Explorer and Brumby; its 3.6m line-up includes the Traveller, Escape and Longreach. (* When the trailer is static, its roof can be unfolded to the rear to become the hard floor of the camper’s entry-way. Check out the accompanying photos to better understand the process.)

Our test Brumby was a standard model (from $29,490) with an Adventure Pack ($1300) and draught skirt ($225), giving it a $31,015 price-tag.

Although Chinese manufacturer JAC Motors (Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Company Ltd) is a relatively new player in Australia’s 4x4 ute market, it has more than six decades of experience in automotive design and production and is one of China’s largest exporters of utes and other light commercials.

Its local T9 range of 4x4 dual cab utes launched in 2024 has recently expanded to include a cab-chassis variant, given company estimates that around 60 per cent of its tradie audience customise their vehicles. So, in offering what JAC calls a ‘blank canvas’ for T9 buyers, the cab-chassis provides an ideal platform for installation of a custom-made tray or other service body to suit specific owner requirements.

We recently put this new work-focused model to the test from a tradie’s perspective to see if it has the credentials to be a compelling alternative to its many rivals.