Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i What Motorhome

THIS is Carthago’s new layout for 2024, available on a Fiat or Mercedes chassis and also a Superior model, adding full LED headlamps and new Innovista furniture with the Nuovo ‘world of style’. It has already become one of the company’s most popular models! If you want a proper en suite, with opposing shower and toilet facilities, you’re usually looking at motorhomes of around 7.5m, but, even with the longer Merc cab, overall length is kept down to 7.18m here. A 3,500kg gross weight is, therefore, possible – if only just. It’s easy to increase the weight and need a 4.5-tonne chassis, though. Extras can add £30k or more to the cost. For example, the £9,150 Basic-Plus Package adds everything from height-adjustable cab seats and radio preparation to a larger…

PART of the Rapido Group, Florium (and sister marque, Fleurette) manufactures a range of low-profile and A-class motorhomes. Most models can be ordered in either Fleurette or, more contemporary, Florium form but this special edition is only available in the Florium line-up, although you can get the same layout as a Fleurette Discover, with a slightly different exterior and interior look. What’s interesting about all three layouts in the A-class range is that they offer face-to-face lounges, making them primarily aimed at couples. You can carry rear passengers, but all three models offer spacious touring for two. This 7.49m ’van features an island bed, while sharing the front half of the layout with the 74 LJG that has single beds. There is also a 7.19m model with a smaller lounge…

FOR 2024, Le Voyageur has replaced its Classic range with the new Eterna – a range of Fiat-based A-classes ranging from 6.80m to 8.55m in length. All use a new lower Al-Ko STC chassis that has allowed a deeper double floor and a lower centre of gravity to improve the vehicles’ handling. The French company, part of Groupe Pilote, has also worked on reducing these motorhomes’ weight, so the smaller models (up to 7.25m) can be on 3,500kg chassis and the longer ’vans (7.55m upwards) can benefit from increased payload – or more options can be fitted, as most customers want a high-spec vehicle. This LV7.8GJF model – the longest version to have a single rear axle – has a payload in standard form of 860kg. An example of this…

IN 2023, premium UK caravan company, Coachman, entered the motorhome market with not a little assistance from its Swedish parent, Kabe. Its Travel Master was instantly impressive – so much so that it took the Luxury Motorhome of the Year title (with the island bed 545 model). At that time we commented, “It’s not every year that a major new brand enters the motorhome market and perhaps never before has one started off with a high-end model that’s gone straight to the top of its class. Of course, Coachman already had decades of experience in building caravans and its takeover by Kabe was just the fillip it needed to go from tuggers to luggers.” But, even then, we knew that Coachman’s plans extended beyond the initial two-model line-up to include…

ALL things are relative in the world of A-class motorhomes. This new Platin Pure is hardly compact, at 7.76m long, nor is it entry-level, with a total cost as shown here of £176,950. But it’s still a Platin, which means a very high spec and a rear-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz chassis with 5,500kg maximum gross weight. Previously, Frankia’s range-topping Platin was only available as a 7900 model (8.07m long) or an even bigger 8400 (8.61m). If you wanted something a tad more manoeuvrable, then the 7400 layouts could be ordered in the M-Line range but, by the time you’d added all the extras to bring these up to Platin spec, you’d exceeded the price point of a larger ’van. This anomaly is something that sole UK Frankia agent, SMC Motorhomes in…

THIS was by some margin the most expensive vehicle at the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show in February. Its total cost, as exhibited, of £491,200 is the equivalent of six Chausson X650s (our 2024 Motorhome of the Year). It’s more than twice the list price of Ferrari’s latest sports car, the 205mph 296 GTB. Or about the cost of a two-bedroom apartment with sea views in St Ives, Cornwall. It had better be good… Of course, you’ll not just need a healthy bank balance before rushing to Morelo’s sole UK agent – you’ll need the appropriate licence for its 12-tonne gross weight (that’s HGV Class 2), as well as the confidence to get behind the wheel of something that’s close to 10m in length. There are no exterior mirrors here,…

A BIG front lounge combined with a fullwidth rear washroom and a garage – it’s easy enough to find this type of layout in a low-profile motorhome but, if you want the extra space and sophistication of an A-class, your options are far less numerous. So, this Eura Mobil caught our attention at last October’s NEC show, where it was part of a display marking the brand’s return to the British market. The 695 LF is also the most compact of five models in the Integra Line range (the others all offering fixed single bed or island bed layouts), while this German marque also offers its more prestigious Integra range (lengths of 7.89m or 8.99m) for those seeking even greater luxury. So, this may be the more junior A-class lineup…

IF you’re looking for a stylish, high-quality A-class motorhome that can be driven on a standard car licence, this is a great place to start. Laika has been renewing its range, model by model (see the in-depth interview on page 38), and the entry-level Kosmo – available in low-profile and A-class forms – is the newest arrival from this Italian company. There are only two layouts offered; this H 1319 and the longer (7.40m) H 1409. Both have twin beds over a rear garage, with the main beneficiary of the extra length being a split washroom rather than this version’s combined toilet and shower space. With its all-white design, strong black graphics, full LED headlamps and cheese-grater grille, you’ll not mistake the latest Kosmo for another marque’s vehicles. It’s definitely…

IN most motorhome ranges, a length of 8.87m would signify the biggest and best, but not with Niesmann + Bischoff. Introduced for 2023, the new Flair arrived as a 9.27m liner. But, if that’s just a tad too big, this new-for-2024 880 version shaves 40cm off the length. Of course, it retains the characteristic Niesmann look which, incredibly, has now been around for over a decade. Externally, the makeover is modest but the latest Flair has all its habitation windows in real glass, rather than plastic. Don’t expect any two examples to look the same, though – there 128 options just for the outside. That starts with a choice of white or silver (a £10,640 option) with additional decoration in Rhodium Silver, Lava Orange or Carbon Optik, coloured strips on…