# Hey, look at the luton on that!



## Autumn (Jul 9, 2006)

Well, it's hotting up now and I don't just mean how we felt walking around the huge display of vans at Paulton's Park in Dorset yesterday. (Marquis' Anniversary Exhibition). Was anyone else there? Wow, what a choice! We couldnt' get there until late, partly due to horrendous traffic jams (all those wretched camper vans, I suppose!). Hey, no, the one we were following was shifting some!

Anyway, I bought every motorhome magazine W H Smiths had on sale and now I will cut out the little pictures and put them in the husband's sock drawer, on his computer, in the loo - you get the idea. On our way to Dorset on Friday I asked him if he'd prefer me to count all the motorhomes I saw and tell him the total at the end of our journey or give a little screech every time I saw one. He grunted rather inconclusively so I settled for calling out, ooh, there's an Autocruise, or mmm, a rare, low-profile Hymer there, and hey, look at the luton on that! 

Now, he wants to spend £10,000 and thinks a fixed bed is a waste of space; I want to spend £20,000 plus and like the idea of a day bed. He says we will never use a camper van and I say, we will have loads of different uses for it - weekend trips, holidays, parking outside his parents' cramped bugalow, researching my family history, etc.

Anyway, I am failry sure I want a rear lounge (if there is no fixed bed) - less claustrophobic, and the most compact coachbuilt I can find - no more than 6 metres. I like the layout of the Avantgarde but not the quality of the vehicle. I want swivel seats and good cooking facilities (Husband likes to cook) with space for a microwave. Any suggestions from anyone who has successfully purchased something silmilar. Oh, and for those of you who have not read any of my previous messages, I don't do blue or green upholstery!

I have just 'phoned a hire company - Chariots, in Essex. What are they like? Anyone hired from them?

Autumn


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

Hmm. Rear lounge, and a big kitchen, in 6m? Might be tricky.

Our Pollensa has a dinette and a sofa - great for "one wants to lie down, one wants to read / compute / watch telly" situation. Or it's easy to transform the dinette into the large single bed for a double lie down, and it's easy to link that to the sofa for those "lie down with a bit extra" situations  

Only problem is that there isn't much kitchen space. You can put a hinged flap across the doorway, which gives you a bit more workspace, but other than that, it's a bit tight. Overall length - 5.9m!

I think the Pollensa and its variants are "compact coachbuilts", and you certainly never feel claustrophobic - big big side windows help.

That's my two penn'orth.

Gerald


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Motorhome*

Hi

An Avantgarde 120/140/150 has a rear lounge. I owned one and it was in my opinion far batter bult than the Kontiki - costing twice the price - that I bought to replace it!

You will get a rear lounge and a full oven - and with a bit of careful planning - a microwave could be fitted. The 150 model (formerly 400RL) would be able to offer you a tad more space for a microwave. Basically it has an extra floor mounted cupboard and you could maybe stand the microwave there.

From my own experience I certainly would not dismiss the Avantgarda or indeed the Elddis Autoquest - effectively the same thing

Rapide561


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