Coronavirus Pandemic Drives Motorhome Sales

Looking for a new or used motorhome for sale? The RV and campervan have become the must-have travel accessory of the Covid-19 pandemic summer.

Providing social distance on holiday, and also doubling as work from home office space, sales and rentals of various motorhomes are soaring.

Parked in the English countryside, at the quaint Orchard View Farm Camping and Glamping site in Buckinghamshire, there's more to this motorhome than meets the eye.

It has been described as the new luxury "business class" home office.

The GlamperRV Business Line was the brainchild of managing director Lucy Caille and her husband and is the latest in their bespoke motorhome brand.

In a year where many of us are working from home than ever before, it was designed with luxury in mind.

"The idea is to create something that's more akin with a private jet, luxury yacht, than the classic kind of motorhome which perhaps doesn't have that same reputation for luxury," explains Caille.

At 7.39 metres long and 2.33 metres wide, the GlamperRV comes with "business class" facilities, including a large central desk, LED lighting, multiple USB charging points and mobile wi-fi.

There are bespoke luxury fittings, says Caille.

"We take out the interior and we put in our own new leather upholstery, new fabrics, new soft furnishings to really make it have that luxury feel," she says.

"We put in a totally self-sufficient energy system that is hardwired to an Espresso machine, to a hairdryer, to plug sockets. So that even when you're parked in the middle of a field you can still charge your laptop, you can have a good coffee."

Interest in the GlamperRV surged during the UK's coronavirus lockdown.

Its motorhome site saw a 546% increase in new users visiting the site in July, compared with the same period last year.

There was also a 985% increase in page visits, compared to July 2019.

"Campervan holidays are really the thing this summer and we've seen a massive increase in enquiries and bookings. And it means people can go away, they can be socially distant, they can be isolated, they can also work from their holiday or from their motorhome. So, it really ticks all the boxes," says Caille.

The 2020 price for a bespoke GlamperRV is 90,000 British pounds. To hire one for a week during peak season costs about 1,600 British pounds.

But the vintage VW campervan is far from going out of fashion.

"Monty" is a newly refurbished 1976 VW Classic Campervan in pristine condition.

"It was basically just a shell, so we decided to restore it completely," explains Monty's owner Alison Corrick.

"It literally had a steering wheel, two front seats and that was it. And then we basically kitted it out all inside for all of us to go on holiday with. But then we decided to rent it out, or hire it out, for weddings."

During the pandemic, Monty hasn't been able to carry out his usual job as a wedding vehicle, which means Corrick and her family have had more time to take him on holidays.

"We use it as a family and we go to Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, anywhere that we can. And just pitch up, we have an awning that fits on the side. Generally, my daughter sleeps up top in a double, I sleep downstairs and then the boys we put in the tent," explains Corrick.

Corrick says she's getting "loads of calls" from other people desperate to hire Monty for themselves.

"Obviously a lot of people are using them just to go as a home office or go away for the weekend or week with the children just to get away from the house at the moment," she says.

Meanwhile in London, artist Su Seven has taken a creative and eco-friendly approach to her vintage VW.

She calls her 1983 VW Transporter Caravelle the "Purple Emporium".

Like Monty, the Purple Emporium had a second job, as face-painting van at festivals.

Seven says she used "a lot of recycled foam or recycled fabric" to refurbish her VW, as well as putting a solar panel on the roof to power things such as the fridge. It even has a living garden inside.

But the best thing about Seven's Purple Emporium has been the sense of freedom it's brought during the pandemic.

"We could drive to the forest or we could drive to the beach, and we wouldn't be near anybody at all," she says.

"We could keep to ourselves, but still be in our own little lockdown in the van, essentially."

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