When is an Autocruise Stargazer not a Stargazer?

[LORNA]

Hello and hope you can help me, have seen today an Autocruise Stargazer 2005 at the Malvern Show which looked very much like what we wanted (unfortuatley Sold): 2 single or one large double plus 3rd seatbelt in the interior seat yet when I have returned home and googled the same model not one of the interiors looks the same as at the Show. A couple of questions then: why are the same names given different lay-outs and how do I find the same lay-out again and are Autocruise as good as Autosleeper which we had been considering up to now? Many thanks for any advice/experiences. Lorna

[Derek Uzzell]

Lorna

 

There is an owners' report on a 2004 Autocruise Stargazer in MMM December 2006. This describes a sleeping layout of two single beds or one double, made up from two longitudinal settees. Only the two cab seats have safety-belts.

 

Motorhome builders, like car manufacturers, often use the same model-name continuously even though the model itself alters radically over time (eg. VW's Golf and Polo models, Auto-Sleepers Legend, etc). I notice from MMM's Buyers' Guide listing that Autocruise (now part of the Swift Group, of course) apparently still uses "Stargazer", though the Peugeot Boxer chassis now employed is quite different to that of a 2005 Stargazer. I also note from MMM's listing that a current Stargazer has 2 berths and 2 belted seats.

 

As there has been continuity of the Stargazer name since at least 2004, it's possible that there have been variations within the layouts offered and that a 2005 variant was generally available with the layout you saw at the show. Alternatively, the show vehicle could have been a bespoke motorhome produced by Autocruise to meet a particular customer requirement. Autocruise were often prepared to build to order, but (according to a conversation I had recently with an Autocruise dealer) no longer will. Another possibility is that the original seating layout had been modified to allow an extra seat-belt to be retro-fitted.

 

There was an Autocruise owners' club, but I don't know if it's still active. If it is, then that's probably the best place to obtain detailed information on the marque. This is the website

 

http://www.theautocruisers.com/index.php?home

 

Not sure that it's worth trying to compare second-hand motorhomes from different makers as the condition of the particular vehicle is going to be more important than who built it originally. A 2005 Autocruise motorhome in excellent condition should be no less 'good' than an equivalent vehicle from Auto-Sleepers. Neither maker has much attraction for me, as I'm uninterested in designs that lean heavily towards UK motorcaravanning norms. If I had to choose between the two, I think I'd pick Auto-Sleepers purely on the basis that it might be easier to obtain spare parts.