Apart from the thin bit of wing, all of that structure is under the fibreglass in an a-class. Not that either of them are safe, but I don't think an a-class is significant worse than a semi-integrated.
A Class Motorhome
- Thread starter Lambreeta 125
- Start date
- Apr 27, 2008
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My previous two were A class and I agree they are great to drive. My Rapido had blind spots to the sides, probably just because, although large, all the windows are further away. Current one is low profile semi integrated and although I have to mind my head getting into the driving seat I find visibility fine.
Layout is key, and they layout of this suits us better at this time of life. Single beds better for nocturnal loo visits.
Edit. A coach mirror hit by a truck on my Rapido cost £1200 to replace.
I can get a replacement on my transit mirror for £50 on ebay.
Layout is key, and they layout of this suits us better at this time of life. Single beds better for nocturnal loo visits.
Edit. A coach mirror hit by a truck on my Rapido cost £1200 to replace.
I can get a replacement on my transit mirror for £50 on ebay.
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So you re on your 15th Motorhome and you think that the OP should list to you
?We ve had 3 in the last 16 years, all used N&B, and covered about 200K miles including 4 Moroccan trips. In that time we ve been through 3 windscreens, total bill to us £225. The point about crash protection is a good one, the short answer is depends what you buy
On the better A Classes, you get better insulation ( no more freezing cabs), better build quality, quieter ride and just a better overall use of space but hey ho you pays your money.......
Lenny HB
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- Oct 18, 2007
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And take it out in the rain.But they now want to use their van year round.
Ian
Lenny HB
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I'm not the only one that says that then.
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Lenny HB
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- Oct 18, 2007
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10 days for mine.
eddie
LIFE MEMBER
It's probably best to say you'll probably die in a serious crash!
uk.motor1.com
Also having a business that works on them, installing on the top, underneath and pretty much every where inside there is normally a cross section on conversions in our workshops, so we are always seeing the "latest" models.
Being a motorhomeing family I walk in a see a van and go "Oooooooooooh" and next minute I am Googling it.
My wife is worse as she at the age of Six was travelling through Yugoslavia with her Mum Dad and Brother in their self build motorhome, with my Father in Law even converting a domestic fridge to run on 12 volt! (for his beer you have to admire his style)
It seems that this was taken when it was illegal to smile in photo's lol
I started converting my first camper, a Transit in 1979 when I was 18 years old and had already decided that "camping weekends" in Cornwall (we used to live in Devon) would be better with somewhere decent to sleep.
I didn't say that all A Class windscreens take months, but that some "can" I am coming from a different perspective.
Lyn and I were lucky enough to buy our first new motorhome in 1988 I was 27 years old and we set off to Italy for out Summer holiday, three little boys Simon-Alan Kerr AshVanBitz and James (AJ Motorhomes)(Our youngest Son Nick wasn't born then) We had little money left and a finite time, the ferry was booked and paid for and in those days if we missed it, tough, no bleating about "It's not fair" "It's not my fault" So "if" we broke the windscreen on our brand new shiny Talbot Highwayman a wait of ten days would have been catastrophic!
Nowadays an enforced stop in the South of France would be delightful and quite welcome, everyone's situation is different. The thread is running as If I am "anti" A Class campers, which couldn't be further from the truth, but is a member asks a question I think its only fair to give the pro's as well as the cons
Can anyone honestly tell me that the tests undertaken were anywhere similar to the testing carried out by say Ford when it releases a new model?
So I would agree the word "homemade" was a bit harsh (remember not my words) but if your "knocking " up a hundred sets a year automotive compliance testing and procedure won't be employed
Whether people like to hear it or not 2,200,000 vehicles registered last time I checked circa 12,200 motorhomes registered, it is a cottage industry and the only Company that can claim that the "manufacture" a motorhome" is VW the Grand California, all else are converters
With such small numbers it is impossible to expect the emphasis on R&D and manufacturing processes.
We ordered a van about 15 years ago, and when it arrived at the dealers it went straight off to Regal Furnishings for a 100% rip out of anything fabric. We loved the layout some of the innovative design features, but the soft parts were awful, ghastly even the mattress was crap!
Soon solved with some cash thrown at it, which we were happy to do as layout is king in our opinion, doors, payload what it's called is irrelevant to us! but, we are all, thankfully beautifully unique x
Watch motorhomes get crash tested with worrying results
Sweden's transportation agency has crash-tested two motorhomes, and neither of them performed well. The results are scary.
uk.motor1.com
LOL Good Point, but having exhibited at motorhome shows since 1990 the danger is that your always falling in love with your next van.So you re on your 15th Motorhome and you think that the OP should list to you
Also having a business that works on them, installing on the top, underneath and pretty much every where inside there is normally a cross section on conversions in our workshops, so we are always seeing the "latest" models.
Being a motorhomeing family I walk in a see a van and go "Oooooooooooh" and next minute I am Googling it.
My wife is worse as she at the age of Six was travelling through Yugoslavia with her Mum Dad and Brother in their self build motorhome, with my Father in Law even converting a domestic fridge to run on 12 volt! (for his beer you have to admire his style)
It seems that this was taken when it was illegal to smile in photo's lol
I started converting my first camper, a Transit in 1979 when I was 18 years old and had already decided that "camping weekends" in Cornwall (we used to live in Devon) would be better with somewhere decent to sleep.
I didn't say that all A Class windscreens take months, but that some "can" I am coming from a different perspective.
Lyn and I were lucky enough to buy our first new motorhome in 1988 I was 27 years old and we set off to Italy for out Summer holiday, three little boys Simon-Alan Kerr AshVanBitz and James (AJ Motorhomes)(Our youngest Son Nick wasn't born then) We had little money left and a finite time, the ferry was booked and paid for and in those days if we missed it, tough, no bleating about "It's not fair" "It's not my fault" So "if" we broke the windscreen on our brand new shiny Talbot Highwayman a wait of ten days would have been catastrophic!
Nowadays an enforced stop in the South of France would be delightful and quite welcome, everyone's situation is different. The thread is running as If I am "anti" A Class campers, which couldn't be further from the truth, but is a member asks a question I think its only fair to give the pro's as well as the cons
OK So look at it a different way Autotrail launched an A Class camper a "new concept" manufactured/built/converted 52 of them 52!
Can anyone honestly tell me that the tests undertaken were anywhere similar to the testing carried out by say Ford when it releases a new model?
So I would agree the word "homemade" was a bit harsh (remember not my words) but if your "knocking " up a hundred sets a year automotive compliance testing and procedure won't be employed
Both dogs survive to die of old age some years later
Again, his words, and I am not going to say what he went from to what he bought next and stuck with at every camper change, but both were European
There is nothing to straighten out, "most" motorhomes are converted from vans designed to be used daily seven days a week, when converted running round near fully loaded all of the time and things are fitted where they look "pretty" rather than "practical"
Whether people like to hear it or not 2,200,000 vehicles registered last time I checked circa 12,200 motorhomes registered, it is a cottage industry and the only Company that can claim that the "manufacture" a motorhome" is VW the Grand California, all else are converters
With such small numbers it is impossible to expect the emphasis on R&D and manufacturing processes.
We ordered a van about 15 years ago, and when it arrived at the dealers it went straight off to Regal Furnishings for a 100% rip out of anything fabric. We loved the layout some of the innovative design features, but the soft parts were awful, ghastly even the mattress was crap!
Soon solved with some cash thrown at it, which we were happy to do as layout is king in our opinion, doors, payload what it's called is irrelevant to us! but, we are all, thankfully beautifully unique x
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Sorry didn't mean to sound like I was criticising you. Thankfully we all try to help here.
Yeah Lenny, but yours is a LHD windscreen
A classes rule! Especially Burstner ones!
I had a T shirt printed with “The A Class, Simply Better” on it. Purely to wind my mate up who has an Autotrail.
I had a T shirt printed with “The A Class, Simply Better” on it. Purely to wind my mate up who has an Autotrail.
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We have just disposed of our Autotrail Apache 634 after 2 years, including two skiing trips to the Alps.
It was a 2016 model - supposedly one of the first British build motorhomes to be "fully winterised" up to Continental build standards.
Tosh!
The first trip we had water ingress into the engine compartment, aggravated by the poor venting under the screen. Water got under the cambelt cover, settled and then froze on the cambelt. Result, when I tried to start the engine next morning, the belt jumped two cogs and came within a smidge of wrecking the engine.
Neither Fiat nor Autotrail would admit there was any sort of problem - although 5 minutes trawling on the internet shows up several instances of the same thing happening on that model.
The second trip, again skiing in January, on the only night that it actually got down to -5 degrees Celcis, the water tank froze, and that was despite me adding a considerable amount of extra lagging.
The 'van is a perfectly acceptable and quite well appointed bit of kit for summer touring - but not remotely comparable to the continental versions.
Cb.
It was a 2016 model - supposedly one of the first British build motorhomes to be "fully winterised" up to Continental build standards.
Tosh!
The first trip we had water ingress into the engine compartment, aggravated by the poor venting under the screen. Water got under the cambelt cover, settled and then froze on the cambelt. Result, when I tried to start the engine next morning, the belt jumped two cogs and came within a smidge of wrecking the engine.
Neither Fiat nor Autotrail would admit there was any sort of problem - although 5 minutes trawling on the internet shows up several instances of the same thing happening on that model.
The second trip, again skiing in January, on the only night that it actually got down to -5 degrees Celcis, the water tank froze, and that was despite me adding a considerable amount of extra lagging.
The 'van is a perfectly acceptable and quite well appointed bit of kit for summer touring - but not remotely comparable to the continental versions.
Cb.
Jamesh
Free Member
- Jun 28, 2020
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Surely grand California is a conversion albeit a posh expensive one?!It's probably best to say you'll probably die in a serious crash!
Watch motorhomes get crash tested with worrying results
Sweden's transportation agency has crash-tested two motorhomes, and neither of them performed well. The results are scary.
LOL Good Point, but having exhibited at motorhome shows since 1990 the danger is that your always falling in love with your next van.
Also having a business that works on them, installing on the top, underneath and pretty much every where inside there is normally a cross section on conversions in our workshops, so we are always seeing the "latest" models.
Being a motorhomeing family I walk in a see a van and go "Oooooooooooh" and next minute I am Googling it.
My wife is worse as she at the age of Six was travelling through Yugoslavia with her Mum Dad and Brother in their self build motorhome, with my Father in Law even converting a domestic fridge to run on 12 volt! (for his beer you have to admire his style) View attachment 614795
It seems that this was taken when it was illegal to smile in photo's lol
I started converting my first camper, a Transit in 1979 when I was 18 years old and had already decided that "camping weekends" in Cornwall (we used to live in Devon) would be better with somewhere decent to sleep.
I didn't say that all A Class windscreens take months, but that some "can" I am coming from a different perspective.
Lyn and I were lucky enough to buy our first new motorhome in 1988 I was 27 years old and we set off to Italy for out Summer holiday, three little boys Simon-Alan Kerr AshVanBitz and James (AJ Motorhomes)(Our youngest Son Nick wasn't born then) We had little money left and a finite time, the ferry was booked and paid for and in those days if we missed it, tough, no bleating about "It's not fair" "It's not my fault" So "if" we broke the windscreen on our brand new shiny Talbot Highwayman a wait of ten days would have been catastrophic!
Nowadays an enforced stop in the South of France would be delightful and quite welcome, everyone's situation is different. The thread is running as If I am "anti" A Class campers, which couldn't be further from the truth, but is a member asks a question I think its only fair to give the pro's as well as the cons
OK So look at it a different way Autotrail launched an A Class camper a "new concept" manufactured/built/converted 52 of them 52!
Can anyone honestly tell me that the tests undertaken were anywhere similar to the testing carried out by say Ford when it releases a new model?
So I would agree the word "homemade" was a bit harsh (remember not my words) but if your "knocking " up a hundred sets a year automotive compliance testing and procedure won't be employed
Both dogs survive to die of old age some years later
Again, his words, and I am not going to say what he went from to what he bought next and stuck with at every camper change, but both were European
There is nothing to straighten out, "most" motorhomes are converted from vans designed to be used daily seven days a week, when converted running round near fully loaded all of the time and things are fitted where they look "pretty" rather than "practical"
Whether people like to hear it or not 2,200,000 vehicles registered last time I checked circa 12,200 motorhomes registered, it is a cottage industry and the only Company that can claim that the "manufacture" a motorhome" is VW the Grand California, all else are converters
With such small numbers it is impossible to expect the emphasis on R&D and manufacturing processes.
We ordered a van about 15 years ago, and when it arrived at the dealers it went straight off to Regal Furnishings for a 100% rip out of anything fabric. We loved the layout some of the innovative design features, but the soft parts were awful, ghastly even the mattress was crap!
Soon solved with some cash thrown at it, which we were happy to do as layout is king in our opinion, doors, payload what it's called is irrelevant to us! but, we are all, thankfully beautifully unique x
eddie
LIFE MEMBER
VW make the whole thing as far as I know
RandallC
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- Aug 4, 2012
- 1,308
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- 2012, prior too, 17 years Folding Camper & Caravan
A LOT of folks to be drawn in to
something you will probably grown
and grown
at:OR
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- Oct 12, 2009
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Unless I have missed it, one point that has not been mentioned is that on an "A' Class the internal ceiling can be carried forward to the windscreen at full vehicle width. This makes a difference to the light been admitted to the living area from the windscreen and cab sidescreens which are also taller and often longer than a cab sidescreen.
Our Arto is a first MH and after 11 years I would not have anything but another 'A' Class.
Our Arto is a first MH and after 11 years I would not have anything but another 'A' Class.
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- Mar 6, 2019
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Hi folks. We have an A class, after years of C class. Key reasons: drop down bed - just easy fixed bed with no ‘dead space‘.
cab becomes part of the living space without sitting in a pill box.
yes the windscreen is a problem. We have has two replacements. The first was not fully covered by insurance- we won’t make that mistake again. The second cost us £75.
I sometimes feel a little lost in the driving seat, with all this space around me, but the sides are straight so you know where the edges are. Now we have a decent reversing/rear view camera (thanks vanbitz) we can see all about.
Will I have an A Class next time? yes as long as I can still drive I will.
cab becomes part of the living space without sitting in a pill box.
yes the windscreen is a problem. We have has two replacements. The first was not fully covered by insurance- we won’t make that mistake again. The second cost us £75.
I sometimes feel a little lost in the driving seat, with all this space around me, but the sides are straight so you know where the edges are. Now we have a decent reversing/rear view camera (thanks vanbitz) we can see all about.
Will I have an A Class next time? yes as long as I can still drive I will.
dabhand
LIFE MEMBER
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