A very happy anniversary for us
Flora and I have had our
Auto-Sleeper Pollensa, monickered 'Fenland Drifter', for 12 months now and it seems like a good time to summarise our experiences with Drifter, warts and all. First, though, here's a quick overview of the reasoning behind our choice
of motorhome.
We have more than half a century's camping, caravanning and motorcaravanning behind us so we are at least experienced, if not expert.
And, as an enthusiast writer,
I regularly conduct live-in tests of motorhomes both new and pre-owned, from £3000 banger coachbuilts up to £300,000 rolling gin palaces. However, one of the FAQs I have to answer when 'in the field' is: which motorhome would
I buy? This normally elicits one of two responses, which are: "My own" (whichever it happens to be at the time) or, "If ERNIE comes up trumps, a fully restored example of the iconic, riveted, polished aluminium Airstream Land Yacht from the 1980s."
The most appropriate motorhome is whichever suits your particular needs and is affordable in terms of the purchase price, and running and maintenance costs.
My old Dad (who started camping in 1928) always said that it's best to buy the smallest motorcaravan that you are comfortable in, rather than the biggest you can afford. And
'tis true you know, especially if, like ours, it is used for serious touring and exploring as well as a 'car' when back home. For us, size does matter and don't let anyone persuade you otherwise. (Oh… do stop giggling in the cheap seats – I'm trying to be serious!)
So for Flora and me it's got to be no more than 6m in length and have at least one face-forward rear seat with a proper three-point seatbelt
(for ten-year-old Kyle, our junior motorcaravanner and senior muck magnet). Also,
our motorcaravans are used to tow a variety of trailers, and for this reason I prefer rear-wheel drive, although we have owned front-wheel drive examples and experienced no serious problems.
During the late 1990s we had a disastrous encounter with a leading British manufacturer involving the failure to supply replacement bodywork mouldings for one of its coachbuilts. Unfortunately, ours had been involved in a spot of unscheduled vehicular jousting. It was a pure Alice in Wonderland moment when the manufacturer quoted six months' delivery time for replacement skirts for a model which was still in production. And this was after I'd given a director of the company the
full 1000W delivery of my "Have you any idea who
I am?…" routine.
As a result of this fiasco we sold the 'van and bought an Auto-Sleeper instead. Prior knowledge of how good the company's spares back-up was, had been gained from ordering bits and bobs for the broken and tired motorhomes belonging to friends and customers who had passed through my workshop over the years. There had been no reason to regret our decision, so this time we chose another Auto-Sleeper – our current Pollensa on a Ford Transit.
We always buy pre-owned, thereby avoiding having to pay the Chancellor a large chunk
of the old hard-earned, and
by-passing the initial two years of (heaviest) depreciation.
As has been frequently writ in this column, there are lots of first-class dealers out there, so when you find a good local one, stick with 'em.
Unusually for me, I have actually taken my own advice. Thus, last year on a sunny day in late June we travelled to Motorland Leisure Vehicles,
in Croft, to bid farewell to our old 'Fenland Princess' and collect our new-to-us 2003 Pollensa, already named 'Fenland Drifter' (FD for short).
Over the past year the 'van has been brilliant at fulfilling a cornucopia of roles, including company car and mobile office, school taxi, accommodation and transport for European touring holidays. It has been a canteen for mob-handed family weekends away, and a rest room and loo for friends while we all attend outdoor music concerts. Then there were the romantic dinners for two watching the sunset and, more prosaically, the home contents removals
(…kids, eh!). It has also served for general load lugging and heavy duty towing. And lastly, as The Pollensa Arms free house it has slaked many a thirst at outdoor shows.
The full ramblings can be found in the October 06 issue of Practical Motorhome
Happy motorhoming!
Jack Bancroft |
