The Sahara Challenge Continues

The ‘Sahara Challenge’ will start at the ‘World’s End’ in southwest Portugal, then continue through Spain and across the Strait of Gibraltar into Morocco. Once in Africa, the team will travel south over the Atlas Mountains to the northern edge of the Sahara Desert before returning home. This will be the second time the Bailey Team has taken on this challenge after the first attempt in March 2020 was halted for safety reasons following the arrival of Coronavirus.

The Team will be using two Bailey caravans (a pair of Phoenix+ 642 models) pulled by Ford MS-RT Ranger tow vehicles and one Ford-based Bailey motorhome (an Adamo 75-4T) to function as their home from homes throughout their travels. This marathon journey will take 19 days to complete with the team likely to experience a range of potentially extreme road and weather conditions along the way.

As with all Bailey leisure vehicles, the ‘Sahara Challenge’ caravans and motorhome are built using the company’s patented Alu-Tech body shell construction system. This award-winning technology creates vehicles that are more robust, more durable and yet lighter than those manufactured using conventional methods to keep owners comfortable, safe and secure all year round. To date over 75,000 Bailey caravans and motorhomes have been built using this method and are currently being enjoyed all over the world.

The Sahara Challenge vehicles will be driven by, amongst others: Simon Howard (Marketing Director, Bailey of Bristol); Nick Lomas (Director General, Caravan and Motorhome Club); Lee Davey (Freelance Journalist and Bailey Brand Ambassador) Andy Torbet (Outdoor Adventurer and Bailey Brand Ambassador). Throughout the journey, the core team will be also joined by a wide range of guests including media representatives from both inside and outside the industry.

View our full list of guests

This latest long-distance endurance test follows three similar journeys taken with Bailey leisure vehicles in recent years:

Talking about the forthcoming trip Bailey Marketing Director Simon Howard, said:

“Since the introduction of our Alu-Tech construction system over ten years ago we have continued to put our leisure vehicles through their paces both on the proving grounds and cold chambers, as well as on a series of real-life tests across the globe.”

“With international travel restrictions gradually being removed this nineteen-day adventure will also hopefully show that you are really only limited by your imagination as to where a caravan or motorhome can take you and that we love using our vehicles as much as our customers do.”

Nick Lomas, Caravan and Motorhome Club Director General said, “We are delighted to be supporting the Sahara Challenge. Here at the Caravan and Motorhome Club, we want to encourage as many people as possible to have leisure vehicle adventures – whether they are touring 2,735 miles or 27 miles – we want to inspire future generations of new touring holidaymakers. The Sahara Challenge will be the adventure of a lifetime, there will be varying weather and road conditions, and there will also be so many iconic sights and landmarks to experience along the way. Leisure vehicles really open up the world for adventure.”

As they travel towards the Sahara, the team will post regular blogs/vlogs and social media updates via the Bailey and the Caravan and Motorhome Club social media channels using #SaharaChallenge.

Bailey of Bristol would like to thank the following organizations, in addition to Caravan and Motorhome Club, for their support of the Sahara Challenge: Avon Battery – BBL, Avtex Garmin, Bodyrag, Cadac, Caravan Times, CGI, Dometic, Ford MS-RT, Gaslow, Oddballs, Prima Leisure, Thetford, Tracker & Truma.