New cut-price Weekender model for Regent

Regent should get plenty of tongues wagging at this weekend’s Bendigo RV & Camping Leisurefest with a surprise new entry-level addition to its recently revised caravan range – the Regent Weekender – to be launched at the Victorian rural show.

Sitting separately below Regent’s current 12-model Cruiser and Monarch ranges, which are available in 18ft 6in to 21ft 6in internal body lengths, the Weekender is being offered in a single ‘building-block’ length of 18ft 6in with tandem roller rocker leaf-spring suspension for a drive-away $52,800.

However the most exciting news for potential buyers with family-size Australian cars and light all-wheel-drive vehicles is the new van’s skimpy tare weight of just 1780kg, the result of a concentrated weight reduction over the past months at Regent in conjunction with chassis supplier Austrail.

To get down to this price, the Weekender has a full ‘flat-pack’ CNC-cut furniture fit-out – Regent’s first – along with a very basic spec.

However customers can purchase an ‘Essentials’ pack, consisting of air conditioning, a roll-out awning, a top-loading washing machine and a microwave oven for an additional $3190, taking the total Weekender price to a still competitive $55,990.

Beyond this point, Regent believes it will be better value for money for prospective buyers to move across to one of the existing Cruiser models, which start with a tandem axle 19ft 6in model for $64,500 drive-away.

Following the rescue of the Regent brand from receivership 18 months ago by Caravans Australia, production at the re-organised Somerton Park Drive, Campbellfield plant in Melbourne's west is now back in full swing, with one Regent van being completed every day.