The history of Autohomes goes back a long way, but not quite as far as the reign of King Arthur, after which these coachbuilts were named. Excalibur was his legendary sword; Merlin, the mythical magician who attended the Royal Court.
Poole-based Autohomes started off as Bluebird Caravans and produced the original Highwayman coachbuilt. Bluebird became CI Motorised (CI for Caravans International… formerly Sprite) and finally, Autohomes. Talbot Express-based Excalibur and Merlin majored on clever design, plus value for money, and became Autohomes’ first mega-sellers. Excalibur was launched for the 1983 model year.
These motorhome layouts featured a front lounge consisting of a face-forward travel seat either side of the central aisle. After some cushion shuffling, these convert into two inward-facing settees, and ultimately, a transverse double bed. Lounge is ahead of a centrally placed kitchen, offside washroom and the wardrobe. An additional single dinette is at the far rear.
Merlin was similar, but moved the washroom to the offside rear corner and the wardrobe to the nearside rear corner. In between was a worktop, underneath which were drawers and a freestanding stool. Contemporaneous male reviewers called this a ‘writing desk’, female reviewers described it as a ‘dressing table’. A ‘multi-use workspace’ might be today’s less gender-specific description!
Don’t miss my other recent induction into the Hall of Fame either, the Johannesson Husbilen, a ‘van that was called ‘Sweden’s first motorhome’.
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