Bailey Autograph 75-2 - Practical Motorhome

Relaunched for the 2017 season, there's much more to the Bailey Autograph 75-2 than just a new name – check it out with our Editor's review

Verdict

The 2017 Bailey Autograph 75-2 is a well designed and well specified motorhome. For a modest price rise over the previous iteration, buyers get the latest engine plus a new habitation area.

We can’t imagine this model not being a hit with couples keen for elegance and refinement to go with the flexibility of those two extra lounge berths.

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Pros

You get a smart, new look and a good standard spec
Storage options are impressive
It’s handy to have two extra berths
It has a 3500kg MTPLM as standard

Cons

The microwave is sited rather high up
You don’t get a separate oven and grill

Strange as it may seem, Autograph is only Bailey’s fifth motorhome range. It feels like the brand has been in the market far longer than six years, though.

It may have been the last British volume caravan maker to cross into the motorhome space, but Bailey’s late entrance hasn’t held it back at all.

The company has a recognisable brand name, an established dealer network and a well-honed modus operandi – namely comprehensive kit counts for keen-as-mustard prices. This has helped the Bristol-based firm take significant sales from its rivals.

We can’t imagine this model not being a hit with couples keen for elegance and refinement

Living

Moving inside, there’s a contemporary look and feel. Mendip ash cabinetwork combines well with the sleek ‘Aero Style’ overhead lockers, manufactured by Tecnoform of Italy.

With no forward-facing travel seats, the Bailey Autograph 75-2 features parallel benches, with an offside midships kitchen.

There’s a real sense of space, thanks to two elements of the design: cutting back the overhead locker profile and opting for lounge seats with curved tops. All of these maximise the feeling of width. The white overhead lockers, and the ambient lighting above them, also help out in this regard. For mealtimes, a granite-effect folding table can be added easily to this area.

Kitchen

Bailey’s designers have clearly spent time admiring some Continentally produced motorhome kitchens, because European-style drawers make an appearance in the Autograph 75-2, and offer a more user-friendly experience. To match the overhead lockers, they are faced in brilliant white.

The kitchen’s specification includes three gas burners and an electric hot plate, a combination oven and grill, a large fridge with a separate freezer section, and a microwave.

Washroom

The Bailey Autograph 75-2’s offside corner washroom has a separate shower, to the right of the swivelling cassette toilet. Above the toilet is a vanity unit comprising a circular sink and a cupboard.

A mirror, towel ring and loo roll holder complete the specification.

Beds

Like most examples of the genre, the 75-2’s French bed tapers along the left-hand edge to allow access to the offside corner washroom.

Bailey’s ‘Dream Sleep’ arrangement brings a comfortable mattress, lying on top of an aluminium-framed bed base with beech slats that is hinged to permit access to the bed box beneath.

Two more berths are on standby in the front lounge. These are made up from the pull-across slat frames built into the lounge seating, and provide a comfortable experience.

Storage

As standard, the 75-2 has a 315kg payload. Holders of C1 driving licences can up-plate the ’van to 3650kg, and boost the payload to 465kg, which would meet the needs of many touring couples.

Spreading this payload around the motorhome would call into action the rear bed box, the nearside lounge seat box, plus eight overhead lockers, the full-length wardrobe, and the cupboard adjacent to the nearside habitation door.