Bailey Autograph 79-4XT Motorhome

Bailey has added a second single bed layout to its flagship Autograph range with a floorplan that will appeal to those switching from towing to motorhoming...

In the summer of 2025, I reviewed the then yet-to-be-launched Series 4 Bailey Autograph, which debuted at that autumn’s NEC show with four layouts initially. It marked the return of a model that had been the backbone of Bailey’s motorhome line-up, effectively since the Bristol company entered the market in 2011. Back was the Peugeot cab and Al-Ko chassis and so too was the Alde heating that added a further USP, but this was not a rehash of what had gone before – I described it as “the company’s most upmarket motorhome yet.”

The new range was completed in February with the addition of two more floorplans, each focused on those buyers seeking to swap from ‘tugging’ to ‘lugging’. Clearly, a healthy proportion of Bailey motorhome buyers are already customers of the brand and to make the change from towing easier, these extra layouts are ones that will feel familiar to caravanners – just with a Peugeot dashboard and steering wheel up front! Both have an end washroom and a bedroom that’s open to the rest of the living area – choose between the 79-4F with a French bed and the79-4XT with single beds.

Of course, there’s another twin bed motorhome in the Autograph portfolio, the 79-4T that we’ve already tested, but that adopts the usual continental design, with high berths over a garage and a split washroom at the foot of the bed. It’s a much more segregated format, with the ablutions and sleeping quarters in one ‘room’ and the lounge and kitchen in another.

Great standard spec

Of course, while the layout is new, everything else is familiar from the rest of the range – even the cost of the ‘XT’ (£92,749) is the same as the ‘T’, as is and the overall length (7.95m). And, in Bailey’s usual style, the Autograph comes with most things you could think of included in the price.

The only factory option listed is the Jasmine Aquaclean soft furnishing scheme (£349) instead of the standard Mulberry upholstery seen here. A towbar and Avtex mobile WiFi are also available as dealer-fit items, while the 32in Avtex telly shown here is another accessory (only the bracket, which allows a supersized TV to store on its side for travel, is included). 

Before you’ve even stepped on board, though, you’ll have clocked plenty of standard features. Starting with the Graphite cab (which looks like black!) and alloy wheels, front fog lights and automatic headlights. There’s a Thule Omnistor awning, too, while the wide habitation door is linked to the central locking (and has a low entrance, requiring no external step). There are flush-fitting Polyplastic Puima habitation windows to complete the premium appearance.

The bodyshell, like all Bailey motorhomes, uses the marque’s Alu-Tech construction with a GRP external skin (now in Dove Grey and Glacier White), an interlocking aluminium extrusion frame, timber-free upper body panels, high-density polystyrene insulation, GRP on the inside and underfloor, and Grade III classification for insulation and heating. It’s backed by a six-year body integrity warranty (extendable to 10 years for £549).

Aesthetically, the biggest improvement is at the rear, where the Autograph’s new design with bold tail-lights has stopped looking like a caravan, and bike rack mounts and split sections (for easier repairs) address the practicalities. 

Here, you’re more likely to add a cycle carrier as the XT doesn’t have a full garage. It does have a 1.30m (max) by 84cm by 72cm locker on the nearside, though, complete with light and 12V and 230V sockets. There’s a compartment that’s almost as large on the offside, although this houses the bulky infill for the front bed and the large free-standing table (fortunately reachable from inside the ’van).

There’s a further hatch on the offside that allows servicing access for the loo, but also includes space for your toilet chemical, mains lead, etc.

Other external features include 230V, aerial and barbecue points and a 200W solar panel, but the leisure batteries (two 95Ah) remain AGM units, rather than lithium. The water tanks are both underslung (freeing up under-seat storage), but at least the fresh tank is heated and insulated for winter touring. The grey waste drain is a simple plastic tap that looks a bit old-school at this price point.

A homely bedroom

The big news with this XT layout is the bedroom, so let’s start our interior tour there. The beds are a generous length (over 2m on the nearside) and although they each have a slightly cut-off corner at the foot that’s not really noticed in use.

What you’re far more aware of is the ease of getting into bed and the huge headroom above. Compared with the more usual high bed format, this bedroom feels much more roomy, more like being at home. There’s still a step up into this area but the beds are very low in comparison with most other twin bed designs and standing room here is up to 1.95m.
 

There are padded headboards that you can sit up against and reading lights and USB sockets above. A large rooflight allows plenty of ventilation and daylight into the space, while an upholstered concertina screen can make the bedroom private when required. Most of the time, though, the sleeping quarters feel more integral with the rest of the living area.

The large storage area under the offside bed can be accessed via a drop-front door, while its opposite number is external only. At the foot of each bed is further shelved storage, although on the offside much of this is taken up by the Alde boiler. You’ll also find a small locker hidden in the raised bedroom floor.

Excellent end washroom

The end washroom is also very convenient when you’re in bed, although less so for any occupants of the front lounge bed who would have to pass through the rear bedroom. The front bed has been improved since I tested that early prototype and now works quite well (although you do have to store a very bulky infill cushion). It’s a proper double bed in size (and very long) and fairly flat considering that it has a number of joins. As an occasional berth it’s more than adequate, although if you need to accommodate four on regular basis, you’d be better off with a drop-down bed. 

This ablutions area is perhaps the highlight of the new model. It has everything you’d hope for, including plenty of room to use all the facilities. The basin faces you as you enter, with a useful worktop adjacent and mirror-fronted cupboards above (which just need fiddle rails to keep everything in place).

For once the loo is neither too high, nor lacking in leg or shoulder room. But the star feature is the separate shower, complete with twin drains, shelves for shampoo, etc, a good spray, a second roof vent and a drying rail. 
Then the bathroom is completed by the wardrobe, sited behind the loo. It has a shelf above its hanging rail, but there’s still a drop of 99cm.

Spacious front lounge
 

At the opposite end of this Autograph, the format is familiar from other models in the range. There’s a straight sofa on the nearside and an offside L-settee that incorporates the two rear travel seats with automotive head restraints and Isofix.

It’s pleasing to see that Bailey continues to lead the way with passenger safety, installing features such as the strengthening hoops under the seat, following the lessons learned when it carried out a comprehensive series of crash tests before entering the motorhome market.
 

As with the rest of the vehicle, the lounge is a well-lit space with a large overcab sunroof, downlights, ambient lighting and flexible cab reading lamps. Large windows and a glazed door also help create a bright space, which also benefits from huge headroom of 2.14m.

Plump scatter cushions are provided and the sofa backrest wrap around the B-pillars behind the cab to enhance both appearance and comfort, but you can’t help noticing the difference in floor and seat height between the swivel chairs and settees. The latter suit those with long legs best.

The cab seats are the top choice for watching the telly, sited in the entrance, where you’ll also discover a wireless charging pad. On the driver’s side there’s a neat coffee table, that’s ideal for evening drinks and nibbles as you relax to watch the latest blockbuster.

But the good news stops with the main dining table. It’s heavy and awkward to extract from under the rear offside mattress, not helped by the inadequate gas struts on the bed base. Then, in situ, it seems low in relation to the settees, too bulky in the space, and almost impossible to get around. I’d purchase a second coffee table and leave the larger unit for al fresco use only.

A very British kitchen
 

That this is a British motorhome is more obvious in the galley than anywhere else. That starts with the Russell Hobbs plateless microwave and the Thetford cooker with separate oven and grill, as well as a mains hotplate and three gas rings.

It continues with features such as the two 230V sockets and the removable draining board, as well as the sink cover that doubles as a chopping board. Bailey is also probably unique in covering the cooker’s glass lid with a worktop that matches the rest of the counter, giving you a better surface on which to prepare food and giving a more cohesive look.

Storage includes two drawers (one for cutlery) as well as a pull-out unit for tins, jars, etc.  

Opposite, the super-tall absorption fridge has a 142-litre maximum capacity and automatic energy selection, so you don’t have to worry about swapping from 12V to 230V to gas. 
 

Peugeot automatic

Also automatic are the vehicle headlights and, of course, the vehicle itself. You really wouldn’t want a motorhome this big with less than Peugeot’s 180hp motor and eight-speed automatic transmission. In combination with the wide-tracked and low Al-Ko chassis, it makes for a reassuringly easy, stable, roll-free vehicle – just remember that very long wheelbase on tight turns and don’t forget that this is one of the widest mainstream models on the market. 

The auto gearbox still seems like a novelty in a Boxer, where manual was for so long the only option. The rest hasn’t changed much, with the basic design dating back two decades – and still with insufficient steering column adjustment for many drivers.

That said, Bailey does spec the Peugeot with the latest toys. So, it gets the digital instruments and the big 10in central screen with DAB radio, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as sharp colour display for the reversing camera.

There’s digital air-con, too, in which you set the temperature rather than just turning it on or off, as well as a wireless phone charging pad and stop/start. What you don’t get is an electronic parking brake, so you still have to lean down to your right for the lever.
That’s the only discomfort because the twin-armrest, height-adjustable cab seats serve well.

On reasonable road surfaces there weren’t too many rattles, either, although there was some creaking from the mouldings around the cab cutaway.

Bailey has clearly created a model for its caravan customers wishing to switch to motorhoming. Its interior décor and layout will be familiar to them but the appeal of this less common layout go beyond that, with low beds and a great bathroom.