The boss of Dacia UK at the time was a proper enthusiast called Luke Broad. He had seen the Sandman in Autocar and thought it was cool.

As did the product planning bod from France, but both told us that there were no plans to make something similar in the near or far future. Clearly, they weren’t making that up to keep me quiet.

We thought we had handed them on a plate a sure-fire commercial winner. Judging by the amount of material online today, perhaps we had. Many of the AI creations that you will see have moved quite a distance from our original concept.

For starters, many of the headlines refer to the Dacia Sandman 4×4 and we never, despite Summerell-Youde owning a four-wheel-drive camper, envisaged the Sandman being 4WD, not least because the Renault Trafic wasn’t available with that drivetrain.

Besides, it would cost too much. Some of the AI images have also ignored our original concept of not fitting out the Sandman with costly and space-gobbling things like wardrobes.

The whole fake Dacia Sandman business has been an eye-opener for me. The amount of sheer cobblers written is incredible.

One US-based site says the following about the vehicle: “For 2026 the Romanian brand draws attention with the Dacia Sandman 2026, a small SUV-camper crossover that promises adventure on a friendly budget. As someone who spent time with the new Sandman in the city and on light trails, I am excited to share real world impressions.”