Greetings (And I need a lesson in English) (1 Viewer)

May 29, 2021
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Kotka, Finland
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Greetings from Finland.

In 2006 we rented a motor home for a week+ with some friends and went to Nordkapp, then around 2013-2016 we rented one for 3 years in a row with my girlfriend, and 2016 we accidentally bought one. It was a '99 Solifer Mobile 596 and it was in no way anything I was ever going to buy, but as it had been parked for months due to engine failure I offered some hilarious money for it. The owener had bought it a bit over a year ago for 18000 eur and when he agreed to 4500 eur it was to be our first. The engine replacement was a pain in somewhere, not for the work but for the scrap yard that sold us the engine. It had all kinds of problems and what was to be a 3 days work ended up taking almost 6 weeks with waiting for them to solve this and that and everything before it was running. Had it for a year and made some successfull trips with it, but after a year I decided to get rid of it because I couldn't live with the stress waiting when the 'clearly questionable' engine would break again. Well, two years later the buyer emailed me that car is still great so seemed to work. But anyway, wasn't what we wanted and the 1.9 litre engine was a bit slow even for me - and I've only had 1.1-1.6 cars ever :-D

After that we got ourselves a 2011 Hymercar 322 and it was more like it. We had it for 3Ā½ years, drove about 80000km (50000 miles) with it and spent over 300 hundreds nights on the road which I think isn't bad as we both work 5-6 days a week. The most memorable trip was when we tried to make a trip to Germany/Switzerland/etc and one morning somewhere in the middle of Germany I felt that everything wasn't right with me (had symptoms arising even while preparing for the trip but didn't think that was anything). Well the wife doesn't drive nor speak English (not to mention German) so I decided to head home and I just booked a ferry from Lubeck to Finland and was going to go to the doctor when we get home. When we arrived in Finland I decided to go to the nearest hospital where they diagnosed a heart attack so the trip kind of came to an unexpected stop. At that point it was Monday but on Thursday we were back on the road. Naturally my vacation was extended with a sick leave so we were in no hurry, but of course the eurotrip wasn't going to happen this time. For well known reasons the eurotrip didn't happen in 2020 either, and as we sold the van in 3/2021 it will not happen this year too. Gonna try again after the summer next year, our new Hymer should arrive in time.

I've always been in to making stuff better to my likings and for the past 20 years I've documented everything on my site and these motohomes have of course been included. In case of interest all of that can be seen on my site wonk.sytes.net. The site is unfotunately mostly in Finnish but you might try some translator even if they don't seem to work so well with my language. Something even seems to translate as ***holeseason and that surely isn't right :-D

While watching youtube (UK videos mostly by The Motorhome Man) and browsing the web, I see that in the UK you seem to have your MH's with quite different layouts then we do and that has brought in to my mind that maybe I could sometimes write an 'article' or two about how we do MH compared to you. But will not promise anything, for it to be perfect and comprehensive it would have to be a very, very long story and not sure if I can ever get it done as good as I want :)

I think that's about it for now. But I need a favor. Could someone please tell me how do you name the motorhome types in the attached picture (and what are the boxes one tows with a normal car).

EDIT: Oops, forgot the type 6
 

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WynandJean

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Mar 23, 2010
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Hello and welcome from West Midlands. UK. šŸ‘ While you may think it is a lesson in English you need, I disagree. I still can't be sure which type of motorhome is which. I think I get the hang of it when told but the next time the subject comes up I'm not really sure - so I'll watch the replies with interest.

Wyn
 
Jul 5, 2021
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Hej from a neighbouring fellow Northerner, welcome aboard!
 
Feb 22, 2011
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(and what are the boxes one tows with a normal car).
Are you referring to a caravan ?
Some call them wobble boxes, lol.
People that drive a car and have a caravan are tuggers or shed draggers.

What a great first post, I think your English is excellent and would like to hear more of your travels.
Sorry to hear about your medical problems and I hope they are behind you now.
Thanks for posting

w2f
Edit :

1. Is an A Class.
2. Is a panel van conversion or PVC for short.
3. Is a C class or coachbuilt.
4. Looks like a very upmarket German make like Morello or Concorde. There are a few on here with them. Not sure of a name type, maybe gin palace ?
5. Looks like a works van emptied for the weekend and loaded with a mattress and camping stove for a bit of wild camping.
6. Is as number 3 coachbuilt but with an overcab bed. 3 might be refered to as a 'low profile'
 
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Bailey58

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Jun 23, 2010
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No English lessons needed there and :welcome3:to Fun.

Others may correct me but the pics are;

1. A Class where the whole van is built on a manufacturer supplied engine and chassis only.
2. Van conversion where the habitable area is built inside an existing van, maybe with window openings added.
3. Coach built, low profile, where the body is built onto the original cab and chassis, usually supplied direct from the manufacturer.
4. Larger version of an A Class built on the engine and chassis supplied. Normally termed an American RV (Recreational Vehicle) but I think there are probably European manufactures doing these?
5. As You said.
6. Similar to coach built but with an overcab area for storage or a bed.

Yep as said, caravan is what we tow behind a car but we also tow open trailers for a small car or box trailers to hold bikes, extras etc.
 

RetiredPope

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Apr 9, 2015
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Greetings, spent nearly 18months in Tampere for work many years ago, always like the Fins, very friendly and a lot speak acceptable English (American :LOL:). Would like to hear more on your travels, hope your health improves.

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Kirsten

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May 5, 2015
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welcome- and in awe of your command of english and expertise with motorhomes ! Would love to read your articles about the travels and the making things more to your liking !!
 

funflair

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Dec 11, 2013
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Hi PDrill

No 4 on your pictures is a Concorde and would be called a "liner" OK it's an A class but "liner " is reserved for the largest of these vehicles when based on a truck chassis and definitely more than 7500kg.

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Apr 27, 2016
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(and what are the boxes one tows with a normal car).
In English English they are called caravans, but in US English they are called trailers. In English English a trailer is something you tow behind a car, maybe with a car or motorbike on it, or full of camping gear.

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Jun 8, 2019
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Greetings peeps welcome from Bexley

Are you referring to a box trailer?
 
Apr 27, 2016
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(and what are the boxes one tows with a normal car)
I'm not sure we're allowed to mention these on this forum :eek:, but there's a caravan (full size with windows, beds, kitchen and toilet), folding caravan (the top half folds down when towing), trailer tent (the tent unfolds from the trailer), and the trailer (a box full of camping gear).
 

lorger

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Hi and welcome from Scotland, I wouldnā€™t worry about your English as itā€™s better than mine šŸ˜‚

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