BAILEY HAS LAUNCHED AN all-new motorhome range, Approach Autograph, to replace its two-year-old Approach SE range, which was its very first foray into motorhomes.

The Approach Autograph retains the Peugeot Boxer cab, Al-Ko AMC chassis and aluminium-framed extra-wide habitation body used on the Approach SE, but the cab is now metallic graphite, with matching graphics that run onto a pure white habitation body, replacing the magnolia coloured Approach SE bodies. The Autographs come as standard with Alde wet heating, in place of the Truma blown air heating found in the SEs.

 

New-Bailey-Autograph-765

 

 

 

 

Bailey Approach Autograph 765

 

The shape of the habitation bodies has also changed. The Autograph has sleeker curves on the front corners of the body, and a radius on the rear panel, inspired by the styling of Bailey’s caravans. The chassis is now super-low rather than low, lowered by an additional 70cm to bolster internal headroom. The body is also 12cm higher, meaning that the Approach Autograph has up to 6’3″ of headroom inside.

 

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Bailey Approach Autograph 750

 

FIRST FOR THE UK: DROP-DOWN BED

Bailey has used this

added space to create the UK’s first drop-down bed low profile

motorhome, the Approach Advantage 765, which retails for £47,450. It’s a

six-berth with a rear U-shaped lounge and a front dinette. The other

all-new model in the range is the 750 (£46,950), a four-berth with a

very Continental layout ‚ twin rear single beds over a rear garage.

 

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Bailey Approach Autograph 745

The remaining three Autograph models have layouts from the SE range. The best-selling 740 (£45,960) and 745 (£46,960) have been retained‚ these have nearly identical corner bed layouts, with a facing-sofa lounge in the former and a half-dinette with two belted travelling seats in the latter. The other carry-over is the 625 (£44,460), a compact two-berth rear lounge ’van. Prices have only increased by about £2000 compared to comparable Approach SE models.

 

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Above Bailey Approach Autograph 625; below the 740

 

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ALDE HEATING

The 765’s drop-down bed isn’t the only new feature to come about as a result of the increased interior headroom; The Autographs have double-floored lounges, which house radiators for the Alde heating system, allowing heat to rise from the floor of the motorhome and keep the entire habitation uniformly warm, without the hot spots that are an unavoidable side effect of blown air heating. The kitchens have been upgraded, with a new cooker fitted with an electric hotplate. Interior designs are also improved, with darker veneers, radiused corners on worktops and more attractive locker doors.

 

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Here’s the kitchen in the Bailey Approach Autograph 625

 

BETTER STORAGE

Bailey has also used the double floor sections to improve storage. There are clever shoe cubbies located under floors, as well as additional externally accessible storage spaces, such as the smart rear locker door in the 765, which allows you to stow camping chairs and even a barbecue under the floor. The 105Ah Banner leisure battery is situated in an insulated compartment under the floor; one battery is fitted as standard, but Bailey has also included space in this compartment for an additional unit. The fresh and waste water tanks are still mounted on the exterior, but they’re now fully insulated.

 

 

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Bailey Approach 740

 

All Approach Autograph models come as standard with Peugeot’s 128bhp Euro 5 engines, without any option to upgrade. The interiors will come as standard with ‘Trafalgar’ upholstery, but leather-look ‘Piccadilly’ upholstery will be available as a £199 option. Bailey is also offering warranty upgrades; for £189 you can extend the six-year standard bodyshell warranty to 10 years, while for £795 you can double the length of the manufacturer’s warranty from three to six years.

 

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Bailey Approach Autograph 745, with swivel cab seats

 

 

SECOND NEW RANGE DUE IN OCTOBER

Bailey plans to introduce a second new range at the October NEC Show. It will be called the Approach Compacts, and will feature two low-profiles; the 520 with a rear transverse garage bed and four belted travelling seats, and the 540 with a rear washroom and a drop-down bed. The latter is set to become the UK’s second homegrown drop-down bed low-profile. Approach Compacts will come in at under six metres in length and feature narrower habitations than the Approach Autographs, at 2.1 rather than 2.42 metres wide.

 

Jeremiah Mahadevan

Reporting from the Bailey 2014-season motorhome launch in Bristol

18 July, 2013

 

Read more:

Bailey launches UK’s first drop-down bed motorhome

 

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Full details of the all new Approach Autograph motorhome range incl a brochure download available here