Time to BOGOF
No, we still haven't changed our motorcaravan, but I have asked the dealer we use to keep his eyes peeled for a
good two- to three-year-old bargain. After many years of super service, the proprietor
of Motorland has grown used to what he refers to as my "champagne tastes for lemonade money."
As part of my research (nosing!), I've recently
come across some unusual motorhomes that are worth sharing with other prospective purchasers. The first is perfect for those who can't decide between an overcab or an
A-class, or perhaps for someone who has difficulty reversing, or even someone with an overactive and vocal back-seat driver. It was made and exhibited recently by Frankia.
The second, I've featured in this month's ‘Picture Gallery' (page 53). Started by supermarkets, BOGOF is now so mainstream it appears to apply to the purchase of motorhomes, too. BOGOF is an acronym for Buy One, Get One Free. This seems a perfect answer for anybody who can't decide on the colour of their new motorcaravan.
Authors online
A couple of months ago,
I told you about a specialist online
RV (recreational vehicle) bookstore. I'm now proud to tell you that over the intervening weeks I've moved off the hard shoulder and into the slow lane of
the information highway by downloading
my first e-book. Progress indeed for this Luddite.
In an effort to spread the word to motorcaravanners throughout the world, the store has put some ‘books'
on the internet. I pay a small fee and the ‘book' is squeezed through our telephone line
to emerge, breathless, in my computer. From here, it can be read off the screen or printed out in the time-honoured fashion (see picture, below). Saving it on a CD is probably the safest for bird-brains like me, so it can't then be accidentally deleted. I read it off the screen and printed out some lists and information that I thought might be useful in our motorhome.
There is a wider point here. These specialist manuscripts that conventional book publishers cannot print due to large overheads become economical to disseminate because only low customer numbers are required to cover costs. Further, the author receives a greater share of royalties and the book can be easily updated.
So, modern technology isn't all bad, is it?
Boat people
My knowledge of boating is limited to knowing that the blunt end is called the ‘aft' or ‘stern' while t'other end is the ‘bow' or…? See, I don't even know that. Many readers are keen and knowledgeable sailors, though, some having changed from a touring caravan and car to a motorcaravan just so they could take their sailing dinghy, speedboat or cruiser with them on a trailer while away on holiday.
Other motorcaravanners, without a boat of their own, might fancy a combined motorcaravanning and sailing trip. Well, the following should help arrange that.
According to the blurb, Boating-in-France is the UK agent for Nicols, the leading boat-hire operator on the inland waterways of France, with 25 bases and 450 cruisers from which to choose.
Nicols will take care of everything, including your licence and instruction for the inexperienced. Prices vary according to the type of craft, the season and the duration
of the trip. I've not used
Boating-in-France before,
but the business is ABTA bonded, the proprietors are honourable folk and they
are very experienced sailors. Contact details are given in the information box (opposite page).
Tyre terrorist
Tyres have improved out of
all recognition since I started driving. On a motorcaravan, they can now last for 50,000 miles, grip well, are excellent at dispersing rainwater and have enough ‘give' in them to stand our ever-worsening roads, kerbing and sudden changes of direction. But, and it's a big but – they do not last for ever.
We watched in horror last week as an owner collected a motorcaravan from a seasonal pitch. He examined the tyres, found that three were flat, two with the whole weight of the 'van on the rims, pumped them up and set off to drive home
(at motorway speeds).
My guess was the tyres were the same age as the coachbuilt 'van: that is, 15 years old, or at least five years past their use-by date. I did ever-so-gently suggest he replaced them, but was met with the response that, as they had passed the MoT test, he certainly wasn't going to waste money on new ones. I'm not an engineer, so all I could do is refer him to the TIC (Tyre Industry Council).
The TIC recommends that any tyre is replaced every ten years, regardless of mileage or tread remaining. However, my opinion is that because many motorhomes stand around for long periods, ‘shelf-life' should be reduced to eight years, one reason being that tyres rely
on weighted rotation to squeeze out natural oils present in the rubber compound which keep the tyre supple and prevent cracking.
Miles better
It was revealing to hear somebody say, at our recent readers' rally, that they
had been told by a fellow motorcaravanner that their 'van had covered an above-average mileage (86,000 on
the original engine) and so
was past it. Above average for what? Certainly not for the vehicle on which it was based, nor for the time they had owned it (nearly 18 years).
This set me thinking about which readers own, or have owned, high-mileage motorhomes. Please write in with your experiences. I have seen a Talbot Highwayman coachbuilt (petrol-engined) which had done over 160,000 miles on the same engine, and a Sherpa-based elevating-roof camper with more than 300,000 miles on the clock.
The latter had been unlucky with engines: the first blew up and the second was stolen.
No, really – the owner returned to his 'van late one evening to find the lack of response to a turn of the ignition key was more serious than is the norm. The vehicle recovery driver didn't believe him and still reckons that he was part of a ‘Candid Camera/You've Been Framed' setup.
Anyway, I digress. Please write to me or email (contact details are shown on page 51) with your experiences of higher-mileage motorcaravans – by that I mean those which have covered more than 100,000 miles. A picture of
the motorhome would be particularly welcome, and I will try to publish all those
I receive.
Van from Uncle
Sometime ago, I mentioned that my (late) Uncle Cecil,
who was an opera singer for
60 years, always claimed to have had the first 100mph motorcaravan. It was one of more than a dozen he bought from a well-known sales pitch near the Wake Arms public house in Epping Forest.
Depending on your age,
the name Edmund J Green, or Godfrey Davis Caravans, will spring to mind. It changed hands several times over the many years during which
my uncle was a customer. His ‘100mph' motorhome was a '69 Elba by Dormobile, based on a Ford Escort.
Because of a mix-up, it arrived with mechanicals from a competition version of the Escort, called the Mexico, complete with flared arches and wide wheels. Having travelled in it frequently, it certainly felt on occasions
as though we were doing 100mph, but there again my uncle's driving was so awful, we might only have been doing 50mph.
When asked to describe me, Uncle Cecil once memorably said, "He is no good, but he's cheap and available!"
I miss the old rogue,
and motorcaravanners all
over Europe will miss his early-morning on-site arias!
Cristel gazing
Take a dekko at the wonderful Cristel 575. It's a British-built A-class on a medium wheelbase Peugeot Boxer chassis cowl. It was the brainchild of boat builder Terry Smith-Howell and his wife, Christine. (Hence the name, Chris and Tel… Cristel.) When they couldn't find a compact A-class motorhome that suited their requirements at a modest price, they designed and built one.
The 575 was loaded with well thought-out practical features, such as a longitudinal drop-down bed, a wide bonnet aperture and superb cabinetwork. Later, they joined forces with others and the company A-Class Projects began trading.
The product was very
well-received and the future looked rosy when suddenly the stresses of financing and managing a fledgling firm took its toll on the health of the proprietors and they called it a day. They only made about six, but each will be a future classic.
Seasons greetings
Although this is our January 2005 issue, I suspect you will be reading it in the run-up to Christmas and New Year, so from all the Bancroft tribe: "Happy Christmas and a Peaceful and Healthy New Year to you." Enjoy the festivities, especially if you are partaking of them while in your motorhome. We shall be joining friends with touring caravans on a BCC rally (a section of the Camping and Caravanning Club) during the New Year, so I'd better check that our heater is working well.
I've had no time to make a list of typographical howlers, so instead I've included two signs (below) that should raise a grin.
Happy motorcaravanning!
Gentleman Jack Bancroft |
