Torture test for new Bailey vans

Two prototype Australian designed and built Bailey caravans will cross the Australian continent by the most direct inland route from mid-August to prove their ability to handle the harshest local touring conditions.

The new fully-featured Bailey Rangefinder caravans have been developed in Australia by adapting the lightweight body construction patented by big-selling British caravan builder, Bailey of Bristol, with an all-new Australian-built lightweight Austrail chassis fitted with proven roller-rocker leaf suspension.

As a result the new Bailey Rangefinder model is claimed to have the body strength and ground clearance of a tough, off-road capable Australian caravan, yet is expected to weigh up to 700kg less than a local van of similar length and features.

The unique West to East Challenge, crossing the girth of the Australian continent from its most Westerly caravan-accessible point of Denham in Western Australia to the most easterly at Byron Bay in NSW, via Alice Springs, is believed to be the most demanding road test ever imposed on a new model by an Australian caravan manufacturer.

Unlike other

British-built Bailey vans, the new Rangefinder model is expected to be assembled in Australia from imported body panels on the Australian-built chassis.

The two prototype Rangefinders will be a 20ft 6in family van and a 19ft 6in touring model, each fitted with a full complement of luxury features including air conditioning, central gas heating and a microwave oven.

They will be towed by identical Toyota Landcruiser 200 Series V8 turbo-diesel models and Caravancampingsales will be on hand to report on how these potentially ‘game-changing’ new British-Australian hybrid caravans stand up to the challenge.

Bailey Australia is the only wholly-owned local subsidiary of an overseas caravan manufacturer and is confident that despite its ‘on-road’ touring specs, the new Rangefinders will survive the ‘West2East Challenge’.

This is based on a week-long program of disguised prototypes (pictured) undergoing ‘destruction testing’ carried out at the Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC) near Anglesea, Victoria in May, where a pre-production model covered the equivalent of 10,000km of sustained extreme Outback use – the approximate distance that the two pre-production vans will travel on and off-road across the continent in August.

Following the ‘West2East Challenge’, the new Bailey Rangefinder caravans will make their public debut at Melbourne’s Leisurefest from October 8-11.