Bolwell gains Edge in market

Showgoers at last week-end’s Leisurefest were drawn like bees to honey to the stunning new, two-berth caravan from Bolwell RV.

Bolwell, a name more closely associated with fibreglass sports cars, Kenworth trucks and hi-tech composite materials, has branched out into the RV market and its flashy new off-road van was one of the stars of the Melbourne show.

Radical in design as well as construction, at least for the RV industry, the new Edge with its aerospace technology, funky styling and innovative design features, caused some onlookers to question the dated designs of other caravans parked nearby.

“It’s amazing the amount of comments I’ve had today, about why the interior decor (of other caravans) still look like the 1970s,” said Owen Bolwell, who with brother Vaughan is the driving force behind Bolwell RV.

“Why are there so many ugly caravans on the market. Let’s do our own,” was the reason he put forward for the new business venture.

“It’s something we’ve always wanted to do, we’ve been talking about it for a long, long time. We’ve got a lot of caravanners around the (Bolwell) company, saying why you don’t get into caravans. And two years ago, we said, that’s it,” he said.

“It’s been on the drawing board for a long time. (Bolwell) has been around for around 50 years, and we’ve been doing Kenworth trucks for 30 years, and Vaughan my brother started this about two years ago. Spent about a year on CAD designing it, and then we made it.

“We’re coming at it from a different angle too. We think why just because something has been done for the past 30-40 years doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it that way. We’ve brought all our knowledge from making the truck bodies, the cars, the boats, into this.”

“There’s no reason why something can’t look good. It costs you just the same amount as money to make an ugly thing as it does to make a good looking thing. In fact, sometimes it costs less to make a good looking thing.”

The van uses a clever mix of fibreglass, foam insulation, carbon fibre and polypropylene for the shell, bonded with aircraft-grade adhesives, to increase strength and reduce weight.

The curvy panels were CNC-milled but are not just for show; they enhance aerodynamics from all angles.

“We make it differently to the way caravans are generally made,” he said. “We don’t use carpenters, we don’t use those sort of tradesmen. It’s all moulded, it’s designed to fit together. Our whole production line is geared to making something like this.

"It’s the same technology as the trucks. We don’t use rivets, we glue it, same as how we make those Kenworth truck bodies. It’s the same technology, same build, same production team that will be making it...”

The van has been designed off-road capable, although he admits it’s not a serious bush basher.

“It’s trailing arm suspension underneath, our own Surefoot design; basically all our automotive engineers got together and jigged that.

“It’s sort of like a hybrid. Yes, for your serious off-roader, you’ve got your Tvans, you’ve got your Ultimates, your Vistas. This is sort of halfway; you might spend 70 per cent on the highway but if you want to go 100km/h on a corrugated dirt road, it’s not going to kill it. It’s to give you that freedom.”

The attention to detail and clever design is obvious throughout the van. The one-piece pop-up roof is fully watertight; the side windows incorporate magnets in lieu of velcro to hold the curtains; the interior drawers utilise carbon fibre; the pull-out galley is fully-molded, and the fibreglass interior looks as smooth and easy to clean as the outside.

Bolwell have already taken a number of orders for the Edge, priced from $48,990, and the company is aiming to ramp up production to more than 300 vans a year from mid-2011.

For full details, options and pricing, see the Bolwell RV website, and stay tuned for a full review of the Bolwell Edge...


• Got some RV news or released a new product? Email chris.fincham@carsales.com.au