Age of Aquarius Motorhomes

An Australian-designed, American-built A-Class motorhome pitched at well-heeled couples who like to free camp has been unveiled at the 2011 Victorian Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow.

The striking, 10.28m (33ft 9in) long Aquarius motorhome uses a Ford Motorhome F53 Chassis powered by a 270kW/620Nm petrol/LPG engine that "makes it cheaper to run (on LPG) than many four-wheel drives," according to Aquarius Motorhomes managing director Alan Imrie.

Two electric slide-outs (one on each side) create spacious bedroom and living spaces, while Corian benchtops, porcelain bathroom fittings, soft touch vinyl ceilings, plush carpet and bamboo cabinetry crafted by Spanish furniture designer Hector Coronado enhance the contemporary upmarket feel.

"As you can see it’s changed from the traditional old American style (interior) to more European curved cabinetry," Imrie explained.

The layout includes two swivel electric captain’s chairs up front; leatherette sofa bed, large kitchen and two adjustable tables in the centre, and a separate bedroom/ensuite with American queen size bed at the rear.

Imrie said the luxury-lined Aquarius is "pitched to couples who want to free camp. A lot of our clients have no fixed address, they’ve sold everything, and off they go."

Allowing for days if not weeks away from civilization, the self-contained motorhome comes with four Trojan AGM batteries (400aH in total), 2 x 135 watt solar roof panels, and 425 litre freshwater and 251 litre waste/grey water capacity.

The bus-style baggage doors are conveniently located near the outside "entertainment area" while all the "service bins" are on the offside.

Other standard features include ducted air conditioning, marine macerating toilet, front loader washing machine, surround sound entertainment system and two TVs, water filtration, three-way camera system for when reversing and parking, and hydraulic leveling jacks with individual motors.

Competitively priced at $389,000, the Aquarius comes with three years’ warranty and free service. "There’s not another thing to put in it," Imrie said.

Aquarius Motorhomes previously traded as Coachmen Motorhomes Australia, a subsidiary of Coachmen RV in America, and the Batemans Bay, NSW-based company recently sold its last Coachmen Mirada motorhome.

"We’ve been Coachmen Australia for the past eight years, and in the last three years we’ve been developing (the Aquarius) with Coachmen Industries’ speciality vehicles division, and this is the world product we created for them," Imrie said.

As well as Australia, the left or right-hand drive Aquarius is for sale in Japan, China, Switzerland and Italy, although not in the US where it's built.

To keep the price down but maintain quality, Imrie said "basic manufacturing" of the Aquarius was done in the US with finishing work including wiring, trim and appliances completed in Australia.

"You can still buy Coachmen in Australia, but I didn’t take up the dealership again," he said.

Other Aquarius models are also being planned.

"We’re working on a diesel pusher, with a stronger coach chassis; it will probably be two years away," he said. "It will be for the mobility-impaired with lifting devices for people with electric wheelchairs…”

For further details see the Aquarious Motorhomes website.