| Motorhome for the Disabled |
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For 2 years we searched for a replacement for our ageing Elddis Typhoon GTX
caravan. Visits to the Earls Court, NEC and Thames Valley shows for discussions with
manufacturers and dealers, although initially promising, eventually led nowhere. It appeared
most suppliers had full order books and just could not be bothered with producing any
'one off specials'. All our enquiries just fizzled out and we were left with only the
smaller producers of the very 'up market' models offering any likelyhood of meeting our
requirements. Unfortunately we would also have to change our adapted car for
a 4 wheeled drive vehicle to tow these heavy caravans. It was whilst at the April 2000 Thames Valley show a friend and I got talking to a salesman from Chelston Motorhomes and much to my amazement he actually produced a price list of some basic modifications to suit the disabled for the Autotrail range of motorhomes. I knew of no one in the caravan industry who could do that for their range! The seed had been sown and, as yet another potential source of a replacement caravan dried up, we began looking further at the motorhome market. Inquiries revealed there were at least two other suppliers willing to produce modified motorhomes. We also found out that the Motorhome,Motorcaravan Monthly (MMM) Magazine kept a database of motorhome aids and adaptations for the disabled which it published every two years as a supplement to their magazine. It didn't take long to obtain a copy of the latest supplement issued in 1999 and now being even more disgusted with the current attitude of the caravan industry, we made a list of disadvantages and advantages of changing to a motorhome . We wavered about the cost, came up with ideas about how to overcome the disadvantages, checked and double checked and eventually in early May 2000 'bit the bullet' and ordered an Autotrail Mohican on a Mercedes Sprinter 316 chassis from Chelston Motorhomes. Compared to the couldn't care less attitude encountered whilst trying to buy a replacement caravan, Autotrail's commitment of time to go through ideas with us and their 'can do' attitude was, to say the least, refreshing. Unfortunately, as Autotrails's business has grown, they have become reluctant to disrupt production lines and now,10 years later, they will no longer do any modifications.
The vehicle was finally delivered to Chelston's just before Christmas which was nearly 3 months later than promised. Chelston's at Banbury were most helpful in rectifying oversights and putting the finishing touches to the motorhome before delivery to ourselves on the 17th January 2001. We intend to report on these pages as to how this new acquisition meets our expectations and of course we will continue to provide and update information about our travels and any other information we pick up 'en route' about other conversions for the non ambulent. For information on these take a look at our 'Spotted' pages or visit our Useful Links page to see where you can find more information and help on the web. Finally we all like to make life as easy and as convenient as our pockets will allow. Have a look at Our Tips for easier cost effective motorhoming. |
We could not obtain the layout we favoured but we were 99 percent sure we could manage
with the final layout and