by Marcus Dubois
Many eyebrows were raised in September when the Caravan Club controversially named the Volkswagen Jetta as its Towcar of the Year. In particular, many pointed to its modest towing limit of just 1,400kg. At the recent NCC Motorhome and Caravan Show we took a look to find out why this mid-sized family saloon is causing such a stir in the caravan world.
For those looking for a bit more power to tow an altogether heavier breed of caravan, VW has wide range of 4WD options, including the Touareg. This hefty SUV weighs over two tonnes and offers more than enough stability to take on even the largest of twin-axle tourers.
Watch our video report for a closer look at these two distinctly different towcars, and then let us know what you think of the VW Jetta and Touareg by using the comments box below.
Unicorn Cadiz: Bailey to unveil new fixed single bed layout at Excel show
by Tom Lowenstein and Chris Jefferies
An all-new Bailey caravan is set to be added to its fleet of luxury tourers next year, the Bristol-based manufacturer has revealed.
Following in the footsteps of its new Pegasus Rimini model, Bailey Caravans has unveiled that the Unicorn Cadiz will hit the market in the new year.
With the Rimini’s unique full-length fixed single beds proving very popular with buyers at this year’s Motorhome & Caravan Show, the Cadiz will become the second Bailey model to feature this popular lay-out.
With the Rimini coming second only to Bailey’s trademark Unicorn Valencia model in the Show’s best-seller list, the caravan maker has high hopes for the new Cadiz.
The Cadiz is now set to makes it public debut at the Motorhome Caravan and Camping Show at the Excel Centre in London on Tuesday February 14th, before display models make the trip to retailer forecourts across the country during the following weeks.
In a statement Bailey revealed: “Given [the Rimini’s] popularity there was an instant desire to see this layout replicated in the flagship Unicorn range and Bailey has responded quickly to public reaction with the introduction of the Cadiz.”
Tough competition
This is not the only luxury caravan on the market to offer this layout. The Cadiz will go head-to-head with the Swift Conqueror 565, the Sterling Elite Opal, the Elddis Crusader Shamal and the Lunar Clubman SB.
However, Bailey has put a new twist on this established configuration by shifting the wardrobe into the ensuite end-washroom, creating a more spacious, open-plan feel for the caravan which doesn’t usually happen in a caravan with this kind of layout.
Bailey’s Unicorn Cadiz also features the same construction methods of the other caravans in the range, built using its advanced Alu-Tech bodyshell which is insulated to the Grade III classification, thus allowing its owner four-seasons touring. It is also offered with a ten-year fully comprehensive body shell integrity guarantee.
With many exclusive new design features, Bailey Unicorn buyers get the option of choosing from two different upholstery and soft furnishing options, while the interior also boasts Bailey’s classic ‘Walnut’ furniture finish.
This news comes after Bailey recently announced that it is investing £250,000 in new technology at its factory in Bristol, which will enable it to expand production of its Alu-Tech tourers.
Apprentice caravan makers rewarded with full-time jobs at Coachman
Two young caravan builders have graduated from their apprenticeships at Coachman Caravans, earning full-time contracts with the Hull-based manufacturer.
Ashley Braimbridge and Callum Smith have spent the last three and four years respectively on in-house training schemes, learning everything there is to know about caravan building, maintenance and aftercare.
As well as their hands-on training, the two apprentices studied Construction Diplomas in carpentry and joinery one day a week at Hull College until they had learned all of the skills needed to work in the caravan industry.
“Callum and Ashley have been fantastic apprentices, they are hard working and enthusiastic and will be a real asset to the Coachman team,” said Alan Roberts, production director at Coachman Caravans.
“We were delighted that the business was in a position to be able to offer them a full-time role.”
He added that wherever possible the company looks to recruit young people from Hull to their in-house training programme.
AA flashes hazard warning to backseat drivers
Backseat drivers have received a telling-off from the AA, which claims that passengers nagging their friends and family are causing a crash in driving confidence in the UK.
According to research from the driving association, women drivers are the biggest victims of know-it-all passengers, with almost two-thirds (58 per cent) claiming men in their family criticise their driving.
Half of male drivers claims that female relatives are guilty of backseat driving too however, showing it is not just a one-way street.
These figures don’t quite match up with the number of people who admit to the nagging tendency, with just one-third (33 per cent) confessing to being backseat drivers.
“Backseat driving may seem harmless but it can lead to severe confidence issues for the driver being nagged,” said Edmund King, president of the AA.
Warning that “constant back seat driving can distract and frustrate a driver”, Mr King advised people who really feel justified in criticising drivers to wait until they have pulled over.
The AA’s driving school is currently the TV as part of the Channel 5 series Dangerous Drivers’ School.
CaSSOA caravan storage offers best discount on your insurance
by Chris Jefferies
With the winter months drawing in, many caravan owners will be thinking of finding a secure storage centre, even the lucky ones with a big enough driveway to keep their tourer on.
Finding a professional to take on the job isn’t hard, as there are nearly 500 sites across the UK that are officially approved by the Caravan Storage Site Owners’ Association (CaSSOA).
As well as keeping your caravan safe and dry, a CaSSOA-approved storage centre can get you a discount of up to 25 per cent on your caravan insurance, the industry experts at Towergate have revealed.
There are certain conditions with this, as the maximum discount is usually only offered to luxury caravan owners who store their tourer for at least eight months a year.
Even if you don’t fulfil these criteria, you can still get a ten per cent discount, as the insurer’s spokesman Edward Cross has explained.
“Caravan theft has historically been a major problem for the caravan industry. Our experience has been that storage is a key determinant in whether or not they will be stolen,” he said.
“Using our experience of insuring over 30,000 caravans per year, we are satisfied that any CaSSOA site will satisfy certain minimum security criteria, and consequently your caravan will be much more secure there than they would be anywhere else.”
What’s more, his words are firmly backed up by statistical evidence, as a recent government study found that nearly half of caravans stolen in the UK were taken from private driveways, while a further 45 per cent were taken from service stations and holiday parks.
The number stolen from caravan storage centres? Just five per cent.
For more winter storage advice from Towergate, read their article: What to look for in a great winter caravan storage centre
Swift Caravans to expand Challenger Sport range with three new layouts
by Chris Jefferies
The Swift Caravans family is about to get bigger, as the industry leader has just announced three new versions of its highly popular Challenger Sport range.
Due to launch in January at the Manchester Caravan and Motorhome Show, Swift Group will be introducing two four-berth layouts (564 and 584), and the range’s first five-berth twin-axle layout – the 585.
The Swift Challenger Sport 564 follows in the footsteps of the recently launched Elddis Avante 574 and Bailey Pegasus Rimini, and indeed its older brother the Swift Challenger 565.
This layout features two fixed single beds in the middle, a convertible double at the front and a spacious washroom at the rear.
Couples looking for a transverse island bed will surely welcome at the arrival of the Challenger Sport 584, which also includes an end washroom.
This layout is imported from the popular Swift Challenger 580, but we can expect the lower weights as offered in the Sport range.
Family resemblance
Completing the new additions is the first five-berth in the range, the Swift Challenger Sport 585, which features a nearside convertible dinette and a twin bunk bed at the rear offside, tucked in next to the nearside bathroom.
Eagle-eyed caravan enthusiasts may recognise similarities between this outfit and the Bailey Olympus 540-5, which was launched in August.
All these layouts will be made available in the Sterling Eccles Sport version. Curious customers will have to wait until the Manchester show to learn about weights, but prices should start from around £16,500.
Nick Page, Swift Group commercial director commented: “These new layouts now bring the widest possible choice to anyone looking for a new tourer that is lighter, more affordable and offers a market-leading design.”
As one of the most high-profile launches of the year, it should come as little surprise that the Swift Challenger Sport range has been nominated for the Caravan Times 2011 Caravan of the Year Award.
To vote for your favourite tourer, caravan park and dealer, and be entered into our prize draw to win an Amazon Kindle, click here.
Construction begins on Devon adventure park’s new caravan site
Work has begun on a new £1.4 million caravanning and camping zone at a theme park in Devon.
The brand new site at Crealy Great Adventure Park is set to offer 138 plots to caravanners, with the project scheduled for completion by the start of the 2012 season.
Targeting five-star caravanners, the new park will have a range of super pitches offering full electric hook-ups while it also aims to take advantage of the latest trend for ‘glamping’ with a string of fancy medieval-style tents available to rent.
Rod Pearson, managing director of Maximum Fun Holdings Ltd, the company behind the Crealy Great Adventure Park, said: “The plans that we drew up last year are now starting to come to fruition, and the new campsite is just one of the developments we will be making.”
As part of the development, two new shower blocks will be built and the six-hectare caravan and camping site will be fully landscaped which Crealy hopes will give caravanners the feeling they are in their own private woodland glade.
Having received planning approval at the beginning of September, the development is now getting underway on a plot adjacent to the Adventure Park on the 100-acre site near Exeter.
Land Rover shocks towcar lovers with curvy new look for Defender
After more than 60 years as one of the most recognisable faces of British motoring, the Landrover Defender is finally getting a makeover, it has been announced.
Since 1948 caravan lovers and outdoor enthusiasts alike have been turning to the Defender for its rugged off-road abilities and workhorse-like reliability, but the times they are a-changing and Landrover has confirmed that the DC100 concept (pictured right) is the way forward.
Due to be unveiled at this month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, this sculpted bodyshape bears a much closer resemblance to the Land Rover Discovery than the Defender and reactions to the new design are sure to be mixed.
Traditionalists will argue that this new model completely abandons the utilitarian look of the outgoing Defender, but caravan owners will be most interested in the new model’s reliability and towing power.
To this end, the BBC’s Jorn Madslien has claimed that the new Defender will have to be cheaper and better quality than its key rivals in order to compete in emerging markets, when it is launched in 2015.
Gerry McGovern, Director of Design at Land Rover, said: “Replacing the iconic Defender is one of the biggest challenges in the automotive design world; it is a car that inspires people worldwide.
“This isn’t a production-ready concept but the beginning of a four-year journey to design a relevant Defender for the 21st century.”
The Defender began life in the aftermath of World War Two as the original and definitive Land Rover, picking up its moniker after the launch of the Discovery in the 1990s.
Such is the reliability of this sturdy 4×4 that an estimated two-thirds of the 1.8million made so far are still in use today.
Friendly Club sites to help caravanners enjoy the 2012 London Olympics
With the Olympic Torch Relay happening next year, caravanners hoping to see the torch on its travels are perfectly positioned to take their tourer to a site nearby, now that the route has been announced.
Setting off from Land’s End on May 19th, the Flame will be taken on a journey around many of the UK’s top landmarks before it arrives at the Olympic Stadium resting point at the end of July.
There are caravan and camping sites dotted around the route across the country, with some award-winning Camping and Caravanning Club sites very close to the route the torch will take.
For those hoping to catch the Olympic Flame as it sets off on its marathon voyage the Sennen Cove site at Land’s End is the perfect desitnation for a trip away, with many other parks, including ten ‘Camping in the Forest’ Club Sites which will also see the torch pass nearby.
“We are delighted to be able to offer a number of campsites in locations close to the Relay Route and we hope all campers take advantage of this unique opportunity to support what is such an historic event,” said Bob Hill, the Club’s sites director.
The Camping and Caravanning Club is also offering those lucky enough to bag tickets to the Games themselves the chance to stay in the capital during the Olympics.
Four Event Campsites will be running during the Games, offering affordable accommodation to caravanners heading to the capital.
Conveniently situated close to Stratford station, the sites are less than 15 minutes from the Olympic Park and Stadium too.
Commenting on the Olympic sites, Mr Hill said: “In the current economic climate, it is imperative we continue to provide affordable accommodation options and our summer of 2012 sites will allow everyone to enjoy all of the sporting action.”
New Coachman caravan rolls through Al-Ko performance tests
Coachman Caravans has announced that its new 2012 Pastiche 520/4 has passed the tough Al-Ko performance tests, following 100 laps of the 1,000km test track at the test centre in southern Germany.
Caravan manufacturers use the Al-Ko facility to put the latest models through their paces, as doing laps of its punishing simulation track is a sure-fire way of discovering how robust a new caravan is.
Mimicking some of the worst driving surfaces a caravanner is every likely to experience, the Al-Ko centre challenges all aspects of a caravan to a stringent performance test in order to make sure they are good enough for the market.
Following the test Coachman has revealed that the new Pastiche breezed through the tests, with all elements of the caravan withstanding whatever was thrown at it.
“Had we found anything wrong with the van, we would have gone back to the drawing board, and made sure it was up to our industry-leading standard,” said Paul Gallagher, technical director of Coachman Caravans.
“As it was, the Pastiche we tested performed fantastically, so customers can be confident that all our new shape vans are durable and built to last.”
So successful was the test, that Coachman was even able to tow the caravan back to the UK without any problems.
Eterniti Caravans to launch all-new range of luxury slide-out tourers
by Chris Jefferies
The trend for slide-out caravans appears to be hotting up, as a new manufacturer is planning to launch a “revolutionary” new product over the next few months, Caravan Times can reveal.
‘<' . strtolower('Array') href="/eterniti/">Eterniti Caravans is the name to remember, and the company is due to launch a four-layout range at the Manchester Caravan & Motorhome Show in January 2012.
The concept of a slide-out caravan is highly popular in the USA, with many gigantic RVs offering this feature, but it only made it into the UK nine months ago, with the launch of the Inos from Welsh manufacturers Fifth Wheel Company.
Despite attracting a great deal of attention at the February Boat and Caravan Show and last month’s NCC Motorhome and Caravan Show, the Inos will surely have scared off many with its prohibitive £36,000 price tag price tag.
By contrast, the Eterniti slide-out caravan is expected to retail at around £22,000 to £25,000. While this is not exactly cheap, it does bring the range into the territory of more traditional luxury caravans such as the Swift Conqueror and the Bailey Unicorn.
The cat’s out of the bag
Phil Daniels, Managing Director of Eterniti Caravans, was understandably guarded about his new product, but has promised that there is plenty for us to get excited about.
“I don’t want to give too much away, but some of the things we’ve got on there are truly revolutionary,” he said. “There are seven or eight fundamental changes planned.”
As a long-term caravanner himself, Phil took the brave decision to build his own caravan range after his wife complained that their Elddis Crusader and Bailey Pegasus didn’t have enough interior space for the couple and their three young kids.
And so, with the backing of a multi-million pound steel business, Phil has ploughed half a million pounds into the project and is confident that the Eterniti will prove to be a gamble that pays off.
“If it goes anything like the US market, then you can expect our caravans to hold much more residual value due to having a slide-out section,” he added.
So far the details are sparse, but we can report that the Eterniti will be offered in four layouts: a four-berth single axle, a five-berth single axle, a four-berth twin axle and a six-berth twin axle.
What’s more, the slide-out section will run off electric motors and the NCC-approved chassis will be provided by German manufacturer BPW.
For more information on the upcoming Eterniti Caravans range, keeping checking back with Caravan Times over the next few months…
TV presenter’s custom-made Bailey Ranger gets Whale heating upgrade
Three years on from commissioning a bespoke Bailey Ranger caravan, celebrity television presenter Rowland Rivron has towed his one-of-a-kind ‘Ranger Rivron’ model into the shop for a retrofit upgrade.
Built exclusively for the Rivron family after they fell in love with caravanning while filming a feature for the BBC’s Holiday television series, Rowland has decided to fit a Whale winter heating system so his family can travel all year round with their prize tourer.
Built during Bailey’s sixtieth anniversary year back in 2008, the Ranger Rivron was made to fit the family’s bespoke requirements and includes many creative touches not seen on standard production models.
Exterior ‘sea foam’ aluminium panels combine with white plastic panels to give the unique caravan a distinctive retro feel, while custom upholstery and wooden venetian blinds add a contemporary touch.
Other Rivron-specific features include a roof-mounted air-con unit designed to make the family’s trips to the South of France more comfortable, as well as an Omnistor retractable awning.
Now, as a result of this recent work, the signature Ranger Rivron also boasts the lightweight blown air Whale Underfloor Space Heater system – as seen on the award-winning Bailey Orion range – as the family have decided they’d like to caravan in cooler climes.
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