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NEWS
AOR abandons canvas market
Once popular Odyssey hard-floor camper ditched for stubby micro-hybrid model in all-fibreglass Australian Off Road rangeSixteen years after building its first hard-floor camper trailer, the final Odyssey, rear-fold tent trailer will roll off the production line at Australian Off Road’s new 5200 square metre factory in Caloundra, Queensland this month.
The final nail in the coffin for AOR’s fold-out canvas range was on display at this year’s Queensland Caravan Show, with the launch of the company’s new entry-level Odyssey Series II micro-hybrid camper that will replace the Odyssey hard-floor trailer.
Promising a quicker set-up and more comfy confines, the hard-wall, pop-top Odyssey II is AOR’s response to the growing number of stubby off-road ‘caravans’ entering the market, as many buyers now bypass traditional soft- and hard-floor camper trailers and go directly from tents to pop-tops.
At 5200mm x 1950mm, the next-gen Odyssey has about the same overall width and length as the hard-floor model it replaces, along with similar Tare weight of 1350kg, 100kg ball weight and maximum 650kg payload.
It has a taller travel height of 2275mm, but with a similar 30 degree rear exit angle the Series II Odyssey is expected to be similarly capable off-road.
Inside the compact interior, the new Odyssey features a similar, front-hinged queen bed to allow day/night modes, as the just-released Rhinomax Scorpion.
However, the key difference between the Scorpion and the new Odyssey lie in their lids, with the Odyssey’s full 560mm tall pop-top (as against the Scorpion’s front-hinged lid) allowing its bed to rise higher on a steeper angle, giving easier entry to its café dinette lounge and making its storage space underneath more accessible.
It also has a swing-away and removable dining table, and with the queen bed down there’s still one seat available at the end of the lounge.
Standard internal features included a three-burner stove, a 75-litre Vitrifrigo compressor fridge, a hot water service and sink, with a cassette toilet sliding out of a hatch under the dinette seat.
However, the slide-out external kitchen (previously fitted to the Series 3 Quantum model) and fitted on the display model, is a $3500 option. The prototype was also fitted with the $500 optional 3.0m wind-out awning, instead of the standard 5.0m ‘rope rail’ canvas awning, and a second optional 140 water tank ($1100). Another 60 litre tank is also available to bring total water capacity to 340 litres.
Standard underpinnings on the Odyssey II include a powdercoated 150mm steel chassis, independent trailing arm suspension, 12in electric brakes, D035 coupling and 17in steel rims with all-terrain tyres .
The standard electrical system includes two 120Ah AGM batteries, two 150W solar panels, 600W pure sine inverter, and a Redarc Manager 30 battery management system,
Priced from $69,900, the new model also comes standard with an external shower and tent.
Along with compartments under the seats and bed, storage includes a full through body front locker, plus holders for twin jerry cans and twin gas bottles beside the vertically-mounted spare wheel at the front of the body.
AOR is also planning to offer a toy hauler ‘sports package’, which will extend the drawbar and see the spare wheel relocated to the back to allow room up front to carry a motorbike, quad bike or even a boat.
AOR is also planning to release an updated Eclipse, non shower/toilet pop-top model later this year. It will sit between the Odyssey II and Quantum in the seven-model AOR hard-wall camper range and like the rest of the fleet will feature insulated fibreglass body panels instead of aluminium used on the previous Eclipse.
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Written byChris Fincham
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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