Why The Nec Show Is Well Worth The Effort.

[BFM]

It's a 3 hour trip for us to get to the NEC, but my, what a selection. We had pretty well decided to move on our lovely Amara, and were really undecided what to do.

 

The NEC gave us a chance to see all the 2015 models in one place. It's much the same as the NEC always is - cavernous halls crammed with everything you could possibly need when on holiday plus a few I can't imagine anyone needing - a magic mop? We have dutifully examined many vans today, dear reader, and can announce our final verdict. We rapidly decided on the new sliding bed style as I have had a major problem with simply not fitting in a fixed bed.

 

Inos - amazing van with a pull out side. What eterniti could have been. But not well designed.

Bailey. The front plastic fillet by the grab handle came off when I pushed at it. And wouldn't go back properly. The ceiling of the bathroom of one van appeared to have coffee grounds stuck on it. QC must be still a worry.

Coachman. Tiny stand, tired old vans. Sorry guys.

Elddis - uncomfortably obviously built to a price. An exception to this was the Buccaneers, but they were too gloomy for our liking.

Lunar - couldn't find them.

Swift. Very professional, well laid out and huge stand. HUGE. There was everything there from a Sprite to a £73k kontiki. More or less by accident, we stepped into a Sterling Continental 580. This van has a huge wow factor - it really isn't going to be popular with the traditionalists, but the grey and white decor with a bold striped door to the bathroom is an arresting sight. It is incredibly well equipped. The fit and finish on the show vans was excellent. There is no wood used in the construction with even a composite floor, and it really ticked all our boxes. We walked away a little dazed to look at all the competition. In all honesty, apart from the differently styled but otherwise identical Swift Elegance and its own twin axle stablemate, the 645, it had no competition. It is even beautifully streamlined outside. A quick chat with the lovely people at Marquis, our local dealer visiting the show too and, come April we will be moving into what promises to be a brilliant van.

 

See what you think. http://www. swiftgroup. co. uk/caravans/sterling/continental/gallery

 

 

[jslocks]

It's a 3 hour trip for us to get to the NEC, but my, what a selection. We had pretty well decided to move on our lovely Amara, and were really undecided what to do.

 

The NEC gave us a chance to see all the 2015 models in one place. It's much the same as the NEC always is - cavernous halls crammed with everything you could possibly need when on holiday plus a few I can't imagine anyone needing - a magic mop? We have dutifully examined many vans today, dear reader, and can announce our final verdict. We rapidly decided on the new sliding bed style as I have had a major problem with simply not fitting in a fixed bed.

 

Inos - amazing van with a pull out side. What eterniti could have been. But not well designed.

Bailey. The front plastic fillet by the grab handle came off when I pushed at it. And wouldn't go back properly. The ceiling of the bathroom of one van appeared to have coffee grounds stuck on it. QC must be still a worry.

Coachman. Tiny stand, tired old vans. Sorry guys.

Elddis - uncomfortably obviously built to a price. An exception to this was the Buccaneers, but they were too gloomy for our liking.

Lunar - couldn't find them.

Swift. Very professional, well laid out and huge stand. HUGE. There was everything there from a Sprite to a £73k kontiki. More or less by accident, we stepped into a Sterling Continental 580. This van has a huge wow factor - it really isn't going to be popular with the traditionalists, but the grey and white decor with a bold striped door to the bathroom is an arresting sight. It is incredibly well equipped. The fit and finish on the show vans was excellent. There is no wood used in the construction with even a composite floor, and it really ticked all our boxes. We walked away a little dazed to look at all the competition. In all honesty, apart from the differently styled but otherwise identical Swift Elegance and its own twin axle stablemate, the 645, it had no competition. It is even beautifully streamlined outside. A quick chat with the lovely people at Marquis, our local dealer visiting the show too and, come April we will be moving into what promises to be a brilliant van.

 

See what you think. http://www. swiftgroup. co. uk/caravans/sterling/continental/gallery

 

I think Swift talk would like to have that report. Edited October 18, 2014 by Jslocks

[maginnis]

She's gorgeous, we're mid forties and so fed up with chintz, check, flowers and patterned fabric. This van looks like our house decor in colour and style, I love it. I'm very envious, roll on April, I hope you enjoy her very much

[BFM]

Yes, maginnis, we were talking about the interior design just now. It must have taken a huge push to persuade the traditionalists to market something that is so sophisticated and minimalist. I presume it is called the Continental as a tip of the hat to the German vans that have looked like this for some time, but tend to be less well equipped.

[tony80]

It's a 3 hour trip for us to get to the NEC, but my, what a selection. We had pretty well decided to move on our lovely Amara, and were really undecided what to do.

 

The NEC gave us a chance to see all the 2015 models in one place. It's much the same as the NEC always is - cavernous halls crammed with everything you could possibly need when on holiday plus a few I can't imagine anyone needing - a magic mop? We have dutifully examined many vans today, dear reader, and can announce our final verdict. We rapidly decided on the new sliding bed style as I have had a major problem with simply not fitting in a fixed bed.

 

Inos - amazing van with a pull out side. What eterniti could have been. But not well designed.

Bailey. The front plastic fillet by the grab handle came off when I pushed at it. And wouldn't go back properly. The ceiling of the bathroom of one van appeared to have coffee grounds stuck on it. QC must be still a worry.

Coachman. Tiny stand, tired old vans. Sorry guys.

Elddis - uncomfortably obviously built to a price. An exception to this was the Buccaneers, but they were too gloomy for our liking.

Lunar - couldn't find them.

Swift. Very professional, well laid out and huge stand. HUGE. There was everything there from a Sprite to a £73k kontiki. More or less by accident, we stepped into a Sterling Continental 580. This van has a huge wow factor - it really isn't going to be popular with the traditionalists, but the grey and white decor with a bold striped door to the bathroom is an arresting sight. It is incredibly well equipped. The fit and finish on the show vans was excellent. There is no wood used in the construction with even a composite floor, and it really ticked all our boxes. We walked away a little dazed to look at all the competition. In all honesty, apart from the differently styled but otherwise identical Swift Elegance and its own twin axle stablemate, the 645, it had no competition. It is even beautifully streamlined outside. A quick chat with the lovely people at Marquis, our local dealer visiting the show too and, come April we will be moving into what promises to be a brilliant van.

 

See what you think. http://www. swiftgroup. co. uk/caravans/sterling/continental/gallery

 

Totally agree. We went to the Nec on Tuesday to have a look at what was on offer on fixed bunk bed layouts. We noticed that the swift stand blew all other mfgs out of the water. We bought a dealer special based on the sprite major 6td from wandahome- Swift Ace Viscount. It comes with so many extras its basically specd up to challenger sport levels at not much more than sprite prices.

We're over the moon with the savings we made and take delivery of the van in February.

[o2fly]

I went on Friday. Have to say I was more impressed with the swift range than Bailey. I went to look at motor homes as we are just considering at the moment, changing over to a motor home. I was impressed with the Bailey 6 berth.

[IainM1970]

As a happy Swift Group owner for the last few 'vans I can see little to persuade me to go elsewhere when the time comes to change again.

 

When that day comes then a Continental will be high on the list . ... pity it is so heavy though.

[Scaramanga]

We looked at the Elegance 645 at the NEC show and quite liked it. Although me and the wife still dont like (and never had) the plastic at the front chest. Liked the bright interior aswell. But it still didnt justify payiñg nearly £5k more over the Bailey Unicorn Cartagena we have on order or the £2k more for the Challenger 645se. Still we got a nice free Cappuccino out of the nice Swift sales person

[rslsys]

^{We went to see if there was anything we liked more than our current van. Ended up ordering a Continental 645.}

^{I was impressed by the notices in the van which said there was no additional "exhibition" lighting in the van. What you see in the way of illumination is what you actually get.}

^{Lots of nice new features like the single key locks but still no auto shut off of the feed pump when the internal tank is full. Also you would expect the outermost switch by the door of the van to operate the awning light but it actually turns the light on in the "cocktail cabinet" . . .}

 

^Cheers

 

^Keith

[BFM]

It was close between the 580 and the 645, really close. It finally came down to a debate over coffee on the extra length (about 50cm) making it difficult to park cars in the drive with the van and the extra hassle of manoeuvring a twin axle versus that sumptuous fridge freezer and that huge payload! Practicality won over wine cooling.

[xtrailman]

I like the Swift HT models, only fault I've seen is poor mastic along the kitchen sink, but its only noticeable when the lights are on.

 

Still the versions I like are a little heavy for my car ratio wise, I was hoping the challenger range would get the HT but no.

 

Things I really do not like about the range though is the lack of a stable door, and swift insist on an obscure window in the shower room, and I would like the window in the back wall for looking out, something I do with our Valencia on every tour.

 

Besides which the wife simply doesn't like the shiny cupboard's, although I do. I must admit though there are too many white panels even for me.

 

A swift salesman at a dealer actually said he found the swift "cold".

Edited October 21, 2014 by xtrailman

[sunshinetours]

Agree - Swift stand was great and really liked some of the vans especially the Continental. We will certainly have Swift on our list next time round especially if HT build technology proves to be good

 

Totally agree about interiors, as an Adria owner and fan (love the Astellas and new Adoras), I very much appreciate a more modern interior and less chintz! (and a quality build of course)

 

Enjoy your new van its very nice but transverse bed too small for me as only 6 ft long sadly which is where the Adria wide chassis comes into its own at 2. 48m wide

[BFM]

Yes, I was surprised to see the bed listed as smaller than our present fixed bed. However, the lack of something to squash feet that can just dangle off the end if need be solves the problem for me.