Following its award-winning debut with the low-profile 545, Coachman goes even further upmarket
IN2023, premium UK caravan company, Coachman, entered the motorhome market with not a little assistance from its Swedish parent, Kabe. Its Travel Master was instantly impressive – so much so that it took the Luxury Motorhome of the Year title (with the island bed 545 model).
At that time we commented, “It’s not every year that a major new brand enters the motorhome market and perhaps never before has one started off with a high-end model that’s gone straight to the top of its class. Of course, Coachman already had decades of experience in building caravans and its takeover by Kabe was just the fillip it needed to go from tuggers to luggers.”
But, even then, we knew that Coachman’s plans extended beyond the initial two-model line-up to include a 3.5-tonne low-profile, luxury campervans and, at the top of the tree, a flagship A-class.
It launched its range-topper, the Travel Master Imperial 845, at last October’s NEC show and, although this time it was pipped to the post in our awards, it was still highly commended. Our comments included, “A £206k price tag sounds as substantial as the 8.82m overall length until you factor in what’s included” and “there are even heated carpets in this true flagship motorhome.” With that in mind, no A-class issue of the magazine would be complete without Coachman’s inclusion.
So, let’s take a closer look at this rather superior motorhome, built on a front-wheel drive Mercedes Sprinter with Al-Ko tag-axle chassis. Unsurprisingly, this 5.5-tonne vehicle comes with the 170hp engine and nine-speed automatic gearbox as standard. It also benefits from adaptive cruise control, ESP, ASR, Attention Assist, automatic lights and wipers, a sextet of 16in alloy wheels, an electronic parking brake, tyre pressure monitoring and the 10.25in MBUX display with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, DAB radio, sat-nav and reversing camera.
The body uses the same balanced aluminium sidewall and roof construction with Ecoprim insulation as the low-profile models. With zoned Alde central heating as well as AGS II Pro underfloor heating, there are very few motorhomes that will match the Imperial for winter use. Fresh and waste water tanks (150 and 90 litres, respectively) are heated, too, and it’s hardly surprising that a Swedish-built vehicle should excel in this regard, but Kabe’s insulation standards will be equally adept at keeping you
