Am I strange? Just contemplating..... (1 Viewer)

[nicholsong]

Am I strange? Just contemplating.......
I recently posted that maybe I was unusual in that my first MH was an 'A' Class - in my case a N+B Arto(used), so 7m.

But I wonder if I was not so unusual, and whether there are others who entered the MH World with an equivalent 'A' Class.

I appreciate that many people will have started off in MHs at a much younger age and not as financially viable as I was at age of 68, because I had spent the previous 22 years with a boat(still have it)

The answer is not important either way - just of interest.

Geoff

 

[CazPaul]

Geoff, the only thing strange about this post is your spelling.

We started off with an A class too, 6.99 metre hymer.

 

[Zepp]

We also started off with a A class 8.75 metre tag axle + LHD dethleffs

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[Chris]

My first van was an A class.

The first of my troubles surfaced when I realised it didn't fit on our drive.

Not even nearly

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

Quite the opposite for me. At the age of 26 we set off on a one way ticket from Dover in a DIY converted Ford Anglia Van. No looking back and have had no ambitions to go up to anything like an A Class (although of course, that old van is no more) - nothing to do with money.
It's the travelling that's important to me, not the size or badging of the vehicle and quite honestly I'm happier wandering in a small van that I can park anywhere and not have to worry if my £500 replacement power, illuminated door mirror is going to connect with that on coming tipper truck.

 

[Taran_Las]

My first van was an A class.

The first of my troubles surfaced when I realised it didn't fit on our drive.

Not even nearly

Did you have to knock down the stone gateposts with the lions on to get it to fit?​

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[bungy]

Did you have to knock down the stone gateposts with the lions on to get it to fit?​

Come on Phil, of course Chris didnt!!!!

He has people for that you know

 

[funflair]

Hi Geoff

As you know we have a N+B Flair 8.5 metres and Yes it is our first motorhome, unlike some I/we like a Big "A" class although other than caravans we don't know anything else, to me owning the vehicle is nearly as important as the journey's we make in it I just like owning and looking after nice things.

Martin

 

[olley]

Pop up roof Leyland Sherpa for me around 1978

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[MillieMoocher]

First motorhome we owned is 6.99m Hymer A class.

Parents owned various bay front VWs when I was a child, progressing through various later model VW camper vans so we knew we liked the lifestyle etc so maybe going for an A class first time wasn't as much of a leap into the unknown for us.

Feel pretty much the same way as Martin @funflair about the things we have.

 

[teddybear]

On our 3rd van ,all been A class just like the style

 

[rosalan]

No Geoff there is nothing starnge about your arrival in the Motorhoming fraternity. We all, everyone of us, have our own journey to make. Some, like yourself, start where others may end up.
The problem about motorhome ownership is often money or the lack of it when we were much younger.
Our own love is travel and the van provides more comfort than the tents, caravans, home builds and earliest motorhomes ever could, but whether the journey was to Turkey in a Mini Traveller with a home made tent fixed on the back or months wild camping in our Motorhome it does not matter. When we are travelling we become alive and self-reliant, never too sure what we will do on the next day. We love our Motorhome.

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[Carol]

No not strange, we are all different you just buy what you can afford/like seems quite sensible to me.

 

[movan]

@nicholsong Are you a funster? Yes

So ..... are you strange? Yes, we all are...

 

[Silver-Fox]

Did you have to knock down the stone gateposts with the lions on to get it to fit?​

Wouldn't that be stone dragons and not lions

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[Teuchter]

After 30 years of caravanning we bought a MoHo - a Rapido A class - then we had a Coachbuilt Knaus and now just bought a Hymer A class!

Like you @nicholsong we still have our boat too - not a Nicholson though

 

[clanjones]

Not strange at all buy what suits and what you can afford. We had not intended to start with a Rapido A class, let alone a new one but we did and don't regret it at all. Best thing we ever did along with buying a tandem! (Wife's idea!) and we still have a dinghy to sail!

 

[Huwmari]

When I retired (having had tents, trailer tents, folding camper and having lived in a 15' touring caravan for six months) we used my lump sum to buy a 20-yr-old Duetto to find out whether we would take to motorhoming. We did and then had a newer (11-yr-old IH Tio Savannah) van with fixed bed and garage. It needed money spending on it so we took the plunge and, following an inheritance, went for a new Benimar Mileo 201, again with fixed bed and (very spacious) garage. At just under 6m she is plenty big enough for us and we do like to wander and explore so anything bigger would be a pain to park and not for us. Each to his own of course but I can't help thinking that an A class would be an encumbrance rather than a pleasure for us.

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[Barclaybasher]

Aren't N+Bs the ugliest motorhomes ?..................REALLY !

 

[Hotelman]

Aren't N+Bs the ugliest motorhomes ?..................REALLY !

''READ MY MIND '' !!!!

 

[Hotelman]

P.s as swearing isn't allowed on this site !!!!

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[scotzsue]

Am I strange? Just contemplating....

Haven't read any of the rest but think i better refrain from answering

 

[funflair]

Aren't N+Bs the ugliest motorhomes ?..................REALLY !

I suppose it depends whether you like them or not personally I think they are some of the best looking vans on the market just not in chrome

Martin

 

[Barclaybasher]

I suppose it depends whether you like them or not personally I think they are some of the best looking vans on the market just not in chrome
View attachment 162915
Martin

Beauty is in the eye of the holder..........but some should go to Specsavers...................



N+B.............quality........yes..........beauty............not to me

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[rosalan]

Did somebody say M+B ..... Nothing wrong with M+B (Mitchells and Butlers)

 

[Clarky]

It was a warm evening beside the Med when the couple on the next pitch invited us round for a G&T in their N&B that got me hooked on an A class.
We had never sat in an A class before but that huge windscreen and all those big windows, letting in all that light, plus the views over the water lodged in my memory bank.
A couple of years later we bit the bullet and ordered our Carthago.
We love a spot with nice views, particularly over water or mountains and that is where an A Class comes out ahead of the competition.
N&B are beautiful looking vans but the interior is not to everyones taste. Very minimalist and teutonic design do not suit everyone but they certainly have class.
It took us three vans to get to where we really wanted to be and it would have saved a lot of dosh if we had done the same as Geoff and bought an A Class first time round.

Richard.

 

[nicholsong]

It was a warm evening beside the Med when the couple on the next pitch invited us round for a G&T in their N&B that got me hooked on an A class.
We had never sat in an A class before but that huge windscreen and all those big windows, letting in all that light, plus the views over the water lodged in my memory bank.
A couple of years later we bit the bullet and ordered our Carthago.
We love a spot with nice views, particularly over water or mountains and that is where an A Class comes out ahead of the competition.
N&B are beautiful looking vans but the interior is not to everyones taste. Very minimalist and teutonic design do not suit everyone but they certainly have class.
It took us three vans to get to where we really wanted to be and it would have saved a lot of dosh if we had done the same as Geoff and bought an A Class first time round.

Richard.

Thanks to all who have posted so far. I am surprised that so many started with 'A' Class.

I have quoted Richard's post because the bits I have enboldened sum up what I like about an 'A' Class. I would just add that the view through the windscreen is also better when driving, as one can see the tops of hills/mountains and the birds of prey wheeling over them.

As for those that think N+B look ugly, I do not sit looking at the MH - I am either in it or sitting with my back to it, but when I do look at it I think of the above plus points. But for those thinking the Arto ugly - don't worry, you are unlikely to have to look at it as we usually wildcamp, alone.

Interior Tuetonic? - I would prefer to say clean-cut, which I like compared to some which have a blingy look, even some newer N+B that I have seen at Polch.

On the cost side I think there a lot of owners on here, not all of course, who have spent as much as I did when I bought privately in 2009, at 6 years old with 16,000 miles on it for £27,600. It has now done 40,000 and I do not see us changing it soon, and as Richard said, it saves money by not trading up to get to where one wants to be, but only if one wants to, of course. Plus I am well happy with the 2.8Jtd engine with less electronics than newer engines. I could forsee still having this MH in another 10 years.

Size? For driving it is easier than the 7.5t trucks I drove. Only once in 8 years failed to get up a road because of a steep gradient on a hairpin causing grounding the towbar. Parking not much trouble, except height barriers, but every MH has that problem except VW T5 size.

So Folks, it appears that it was not so unusual, but maybe still the minority, to buy 'A' Class as first MH.

Geoff

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[ianandkath]

not strange at all.

you bought what you liked, thats the best way to buy.

we bought what we like too. yes first buy ,a class.

we sat in lots before we bought, diffent layouts etc.

then we bought our rv, never looked back.

 

[lute]

I'm new to motor homes but i bought an A class at 6.80 mts , I always had a large caravan and now i like the idea of being able to walk around inside if the rains to heavy