What Percentage of British Have Left-Hand-Drive Motorhomes ?

Atardis

Atardis

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From Wikipedia:
In LHT traffic keeps left, and cars usually have the steering wheel on the right (RHD – right hand drive), putting the driver on the side closer to the centre of the road.

I'm thinking about building my first Atardis motorhome in the UK but don't know if I should have the steering wheel on the left (LHD) or on the right (RHD).

Most British motorhomers probably don't spend as much time driving in the Continent as they do driving in the UK so I would expect less than 10% of motorhomes sold in the UK to have the steering wheel on the left.

Please let me know what you think.
TIA :)
 
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We like to spend 3 months abroad in the summer.
We have RHD and I am quite happy with it even when "on the other side"
1 I am so used to changing gear with my Left-hand.
2 Mostly it enables me to drive nearer the kerb than you would in a LHD vehicle which I think is safer
3 The main disadvantage in in narrow and dark tunnels (Norway !)
4 Entry to some roudabouts a potential problem but my co-driver assists
5 Overtaking needs more care but is a minor occurrence

All in all I chooose not to change !
 
We loved our lhd hymer B544i great in france etc never had any issues here unless we were going to events the amount it times folk came up to take money from the o s rather than when I was signalling I'm over here
 
We do do Europe but ours is RHD, no problems in Europe
 
I have owned 2 lhd (inc current) , I find it better for abroad , and thats where you are most out of your natural environment driving wise . In UK familiarity lessens the work load .
 
Our previous two motorhomes were both LHD because we drive more on the Continent than we do in the UK. The new one, however, is RHD for the simple reason that we would have had to wait until next year for a LHD and we needed the motorhome this summer because I had just failed the medical to drive the 4.5 tonne motorhome we had at the time. We were very happy with the LHD, so if you drive more on the Continent then I'd go for it.
 
Both our vans have been LHD and no big issues either in Uk or continent. Some folk think the LHD affects insurance but I've never been made aware of any problem.

Cheers

H
 
I’m in a rhd MH and actually I quite enjoy driving on the continent, albeit on the wrong side of the MH. It is where we do all of our big mileage and I wouldn’t change to LHD.
 
RHD motorhome and also do most of my milage abroad. Only problem is at some junctions the vison to the left is not good as I am a solo motorhomer. Two choices - get a passenger or good mirrors. Anyone know what additional mirrors or cameras are best?
 
Meg Halfords did or do a wide angle mirror also they do a inset one that does fit inside your existing mirror head I'm sure your mirror head size would cope with this addition
they also do one you can attach above or below on your mirror head and have it permanently off set for the continent's you visit ,
I will try and find them and post on info
hope you are ok and family member okay
my brother has cancer and Friday night had a small heart attack awaiting to go eri for repair but like you can't visit or anything
 
Generally where you'll be driving most, but seems not to make too much odds as you'll get used to either. So maybe determined by base vehicle availability? 🤔
 
from the wording of the OPs post, it sounds like he is building a Motorhome to resell?
If it is for a specific customer - what do they want?
If it is to be built and advertised for sale, then RHD if for the UK as the market for RHD motorhomes is much greater than LHD. The price asked can also be higher for RHD as if making LHD you have to compete against the whole continental motorhome market and lower prices.

As a percentage of time spent in UK/ROI vs Continental Europe for UK Based owners, I don't know the numbers but I bet on average it is extremely biased to driving on the left.

I'd build RHD without doubt as going LHD is boxing yourself into a small specialist market
 
wildebus said:
from the wording of the OPs post, it sounds like he is building a Motorhome to resell?
Click to expand...
Hello. For now I'm just thinking about building a prototype and driving it in the UK as well as the Continent.
If people like it then I'll build both LHD and RHD later and they won't have to be painted to look like the Tardis.
 
Couldn't care less what side the steering wheels on.
Was 50/50 if I ordered my current van LHD. Didn't in the end, might have been a mistake, will find out when it goes up for sale.
 
Atardis said:
Hello. For now I'm just thinking about building a prototype and driving it in the UK as well as the Continent.
If people like it then I'll build both LHD and RHD later and they won't have to be painted to look like the Tardis.
Click to expand...
Can you do one that behaves like a TARDIS but doesn't look like one. ;)
A stealth TARDIS.
 
Atardis said:
From Wikipedia:
In LHT traffic keeps left, and cars usually have the steering wheel on the right (RHD – right hand drive), putting the driver on the side closer to the centre of the road.

I'm thinking about building my first Atardis motorhome in the UK but don't know if I should have the steering wheel on the left (LHD) or on the right (RHD).

Most British motorhomers probably don't spend as much time driving in the Continent as they do driving in the UK so I would expect less than 10% of motorhomes sold in the UK to have the steering wheel on the left.

Please let me know what you think.
TIA :)
Click to expand...
You may want to consider resale value if you come to sell in the U.K. in the future. Whilst it wouldn’t be a major concern if the prospective purchaser spends more time on the continent it may not be the case if they spend most time in the U.K.
 
Something else to check ... if we are talking about panel vans to convert, they will have a sliding door.
RHD UK vans typically have one sliding door on the nearside (left). If you order from a UK Dealer a LHD Vehicle, does it come with a slider on the Right hand side, or is it on the left still?
Generally, people want the door to open on the usual pavement side and if they are choosing a LHD vehicle as they travel around the continent mostly, they would want the door on the right.
That is maybe just as important to many as which side the steering wheel is on :)

As it happens, when I converted my VW Shuttle (sliders both side), I chose to keep the drivers slider door as the habitation entry as it was mostly jst me using the van and I liked not having to walk around the vehicle to access the rear but instead just stepping out and stepping back :)

But when you are building a van commercially, you target the largest market for your product - and that means left side door for a RHD van, and vice versa for a LHD van.
 
Something else to consider might be weight limits in terms particularly of driving licences. Would the largest market be the sub 3t500 segment?
 
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