134 replies to this topic

[stevedohc16v]

I dont have a caravan at the moment (to many kids now  :}  )but over the years I've owned a few and used mondys to tow them, the very first van I had was a Abbey Acclaim Ebay special that me and the wife had loads of good holidays in until the kids came along, this pic is of it in 2004 in Cornwall, the towcar was a 1.8 zetec which towed it fine and covered over a thousand miles on the holiday.



Once the kids came along I needed a bigger van so bought a 1988 Castleton and by then had a different mondy, my 2.5 ghia X RSAP estate, this pic is of it in Kircudbright Scotland in 2006.



When I bought my ST220 I soon found out that there is no towbar available so used the family Galaxy to tow the caravan, when child No3 arrived I sold the van as it was getting a bit cramped! might get another one some day.

Steve

[PURPLE_2L_LX]

I noticed in the ford handbook today it states the ST220 has not been approved for towing.

So it is not just an issue with the bumper/exhaust clearance.

Phew!! I nearly bought an ST220 estate. I would be in trouble now if i had.

[MissZetec2.0]

Steve can you remember which sites those were? The one in Kirkcudbright could come in handy coz I'm booked to go down to Annan at the end of January, taking the Legacy on it's first outing to see how it performs as a tow car before I start spending big money on it.

That little Castleton looked in excellent nick!

Some pics of my old Mondy and vans.

This is my avatar pic and probably one of my favourite holiday snaps ever, depsite the horrible van and the scabby looking car. It was taken last year at Muasdale Holiday Park on the North West coast of Scotland, in the village of Muasdale, which is inbetween Tarbert and Campbeltown. An absolutely stunning part of the world to tour in. The van was a 1980s Swift Corvette and the rear panel that the lighting board attaches to, errr detached itself on the way home.  :}  Subsequently found a huge damp problem at the rear corner and the over run damper was shot. It was however, another Ebay bargain, only cost me £50 and I ended up flogging it on there again for £90.  :}



Taken at Argyll Holiday Park, just up the road from Inverary. You can see how ugly the van is in this pic!  :}



One of the last pics I'll have of this particular rig, at Plymouth Sound CC site. Gorgeous wee site, no shower block or toilets but very, very cheap. The van is a 1988 CI Eccles Coral but it too is being replaced with a 1992 Swift Challenger 490 some time in the spring. I've reserved it from a lady on my caravan forum and will be collecting it once the new car is kitted out.

[Haza406]

Not a Mondeo but don't want to feel left out.  This is our 89 2 berth Fleetwood Colchester, bought it in Feb 2 days before my missus gave birth lol!  Lovely little carvan alot bigger inside than it looks, however selling it now as it's too small with our 10mth old, and a little dated.  Upgrading to a 4 birth hopefully!  Went touring as a kid, as did Gem, and it's something we both love doing.  These are pics from Beverley Park down in Goodrington, Devon.  First holiday with the nipper, and in a tourer, a little cramped at times but loved every minute of it.  Went away in November in it, however that was not as fun!  

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[MissZetec2.0]

That's a really tidy wee van. I like the Fleetwoods, very distinctive looking.

[stevedohc16v]

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Steve can you remember which sites those were? The one in Kirkcudbright could come in handy coz I'm booked to go down to Annan at the end of January, taking the Legacy on it's first outing to see how it performs as a tow car before I start spending big money on it.

That little Castleton looked in excellent nick!

The site in Kircudbright was Brighouse bay:
http://www.gillespie...d=31&Itemid=128
I can recommend it as it was a huge site with good facilities right on the coast.
I was gutted when I had to sell the Castleton, it was a 2 berth and we could still use it when we had one baby but when the second came along we needed more beds, we sold it and bought a 4 berth Abi Ace which we never really liked, the Castleton was a quality handbuilt van Castleton went out of business in the mid 90s as their vans where just too expensive to compete with the mass produced models.

Steve

[dieselracer]

Mine before the repaint in the Blue poo colour



Then i used the Leon


And heres the caravan a 1988 fleetwood colchester

[Haza406]

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That's a really tidy wee van. I like the Fleetwoods, very distinctive looking.

Wasn't when we got it, took two weekends solid, alot of t-cut and every other cleaning product for the inside and out, gutted to sell it, but it's just too small.  Out of interest what caravan forum are you on?  Seen a few, but would rather join one that's reccomended.

DR loving the Fleetwood!!

[logiclee]

Here's mine then..

2006 Swift Challenger 500, had it for a couple of years now. It's my 6th caravan and before we've always had two berths with end bathroom but this time we fancied a fixed bed.







We caravan all year round and are going away for new year in the van this year as well.

Cheers
Lee

[logiclee]

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I noticed in the ford handbook today it states the ST220 has not been approved for towing.

So it is not just an issue with the bumper/exhaust clearance.

It is the exhaust that is the problem, the standard tow bars do not give enough clearance for the exhaust. This was easily solved but Ford would have needed to go through the costly type approval system and they didn't think it would hurt sales that much if the ST220 couldn't tow so they didn't bother.

The 3.0V6 GhiaX and TitaniumX have the same mechanicals as the ST220 but use the standard V6 exhaust instead of the free flowing twin exit system. They do make great towcars but are a little thirsty.

Cheers
Lee

[logiclee]

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.  Out of interest what caravan forum are you on?  Seen a few, but would rather join one that's reccomended.

I use http://www.touringan...dex.php?act=idx

Cheers
Lee

[SheffSean]

I dont believe this section, if I was to post anything about caravans, i`d get a right slating, with comments like bog-in-a-box, shed on wheels etc etc, I love my caravan and we go away quite a few times a year, I just can`t find any pics on my pc, GGRRR. keep up the great work guys.

[SheffSean]

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I dont believe this section, if I was to post anything about caravans in the other Mondeo club i`m in  i`d get a right slating, with comments like bog-in-a-box, shed on wheels etc etc, I love my caravan and we go away quite a few times a year, I just can`t find any pics on my pc, GGRRR. keep up the great work guys.

[stevedohc16v]

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Here's mine then..

2006 Swift Challenger 500, had it for a couple of years now. It's my 6th caravan and before we've always had two berths with end bathroom but this time we fancied a fixed bed.

That looks like a fantastic van mate, proper jealous, thats the type we sit in when we go to the caravan dealers and wish we could afford.

Steve

[logiclee]

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That looks like a fantastic van mate, proper jealous, thats the type we sit in when we go to the caravan dealers and wish we could afford.

Steve

Thanks Steve,

For many years we used to go around and sit in the new vans while our 12 year old van sat at home. My first van was a 10ft Thompson Glen that I paid £350 for when I was 19, I'm now 40 and have always had a caravan.
Old caravaners try to give me tips and look a bit suprised when I tell them I've been towing for 21 years.

I got a good deal on the Challenger, the list price that year was £15500 but we were looking at having about £10k to spend with savings and trade in so the van I wanted looked out of the question. Then the dealer rang me to say a couple had taken delivery of a new van, been out in it twice and decided they couldn't do it, they bought it back in and traded it against a Motor Home.
So I bought their van for £12k which was a bit of a push but I was well pleased with the deal.

Not so pleaseing was when I got it home and found I didn't have enough room to reverse it on the drive, it's a few foot longer than any of my other vans. Cost me nearly another grand to have a motor mover fitted (They are cheaper now though).

It was also the straw that broke the camels back with my TDCi Mondeo, I'd had a few problems with the TDCi, it was coming to end of warranty and it just didn't feel happy with this amount of weight. It was totally stable but loads of slipping the clutch for a get away and foot to the floor on faster inlcines to maintain speed. 6th gear was virtually unusable. The 3.0V6 is effortless in comparison, the much lower 1st gear means getaways are easy, dont have to worry about being off boost, hills are easy and 6th is very usable (Actually geared lower than a TDCi's 5th).
I suppose that's 130bhp V's 204bhp. You will now yourself how well the 3.0V6 pulls from below 1000rpm in any gear and it will still do that in 4th gear with the van on. 5th and 6th I'll try and keep 1500rpm+ on so not to induce any labouring but even then that still makes 6th usable down to around 43mph.

Only downside is the 18-20mpg towing economy.

Cheers
Lee

[SheffSean]

Thats a really nice outfit mate, the new Swifts are really beautiful, we`re planing on buy a Swift in the next couple of years, my mortgage is up very soon so I feel a new Mondy and caravan in the pipeline, deffo something with a fixed bed and end washroom :D

[logiclee]

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Thats a really nice outfit mate, the new Swifts are really beautiful, we`re planing on buy a Swift in the next couple of years, my mortgage is up very soon so I feel a new Mondy and caravan in the pipeline, deffo something with a fixed bed and end washroom :D

Thanks,

For 2008 Swift "Downgraded" the Challenger and knocked £1500 off to compete with the Bailey Senator. The main two thngs they downgraded were the heavy duty corner steadies were replaced with standard ones and the alumnium framed windows were replaced with cheaper shaped plastic windows.
For 2010 the heavy duty corner steadies are back but to get the excellent aluminium framed windows with cassette blinds you have to step up to the Conqueror and that's a major price increase.

To be honest I think the Charisma is the best value Swift at the moment.

As for fixed bed and end bathroom, yes that's our ideal layout but try and find a new one that's light enough to be towed behind a Mondeo, even if you go upto 100% of the Mondeo's Kerbweight.
I've only seen single axles like the Charisma 550 which would fit the bill but this layout on a single axle means a tiny lounge, to small a lounge for me. Twin Axle models are available but not at Mondeo weights.

Cheers
Lee

[SheffSean]

Yep your right, I forgot about that, we looked at a people carrier, ie Kuga or S max, we`ve looked at all the Baily`s but in my opinion the Swift`s are far superior.

[SheffSean]

This is my outfit, I still have the same caravan but my Mondeo does not look like this now.

[badmonkey]

Dear god in heaven help us all. Get out of my way.

Sorry, someone had to say it.  :stir: