by Ed Davies
According to a poll, Bailey caravans and Auto-sleeper motorhomes are the most popular vehicles for first time buyers
Insurance specialists, Caravan Guard, asked both new and old buyers to select the manufacturers they had bought their first caravans or motorhomes from.
Auto-sleepers came out on top for motorhomes, with 10 per cent of the vote whereas Bailey models were preferred by 13% of caravan buyers.
For motorhomes Auto-sleepers were closely followed by Volkswagen and Elddis, who notched up eight per cent of the votes.
The figures also showed that many owners had picked up their first caravan during the 70s and 80s.
Keen caravanner Ian Sherwood, whose first caravan was an Ace Diplomat, which he bought from new in 1977.
“This was a two-berth caravan with only a gas mantle above the front window for light,” he said.
“The Diplomat was 11 feet long but had a toilet compartment in which we used a Porta Potti 33.
“We could not afford the 13 feet long Ace Rallyman but we were proud of our little Diplomat which we towed behind a Ford Capri 1600.
“The wardrobe overhung the double bed and lost count of how many times I banged my head on it.”
Other big name manufacturers, such as Swift and Elddis were also very popular for both motorhome and caravan enthusiasts.
However, there were votes for some caravan makes that are now no longer being manufactured, like Abbey, Avondale, Lynton, Thomson and Robin.
