Bailey Pursuit 550-4

The Bailey Pursuit 550-4 caravan is a twin-bed tourer for tall caravanners, with both beds over six feet in length. It’s also light in weight, at 1172kg (MIRO) and 1374kg (MTPLM).

Not many years ago, a touring caravan layout designed for two was defined as simply having two settees that made into beds. Since the arrival of twin-bed concept changed all that, bed-making is no longer a necessity; you can have a lounge and also a separate bedroom with two single beds.

There are now around 20 twin-bed caravans on the market. But only a handful can compete with the Bailey Pursuit 550-4 in terms of keeping both the cost and the weight down. Bailey’s Pursuit range is all about just that. Six models, all under 1450kg MTPLM and less than £15,000 in their standard form, arrived to widen choice in the budget bracket. Yet these lightweight options are not tiny. Four of them, including the twin-bed 550-4, measure 7.38m in overall length. Among ways in which weight has been saved is the use of a combined oven-grill, smaller than a full-size oven with separate grill, and using upholstery made of foam rather than a sprung structure.

In their standard form, Pursuits don’t come with spare wheels or hitch-head stabilisers; these are two of the items that form part of the Premium Pack, which will add £399 to the cost of your Pursuit. Yet even when you add in that figure, the 550-4 comes in under £15,000. This package of additional equipment also includes a door flyscreen, a microwave oven and a radio/CD unit.

Our text example was equipped with another optional item, an opening sunroof, which you can buy for an extra £356. You could also opt for the ATC electronic stability control system, at an extra £399, and a set of bedding to match the upholstery, for £209. Suddenly, your co-called “budget” Pursuit 550 could be looking less budget.

The significance, though, of a range of options, is that you can personalise your Pursuit to suit your needs and your wallet. For our money, we’d stick with the Premium Pack, because that gives you the essential spare wheel, plus the hitch-head stabiliser that brings your Pursuit into tow-spec line with almost every caravan on the market.

We might just go for the AL-KO Secure wheel lock option, too, at £194. A wheel lock is mandatory for most caravan insurance policies and many offer discounts for this model in particular.

Pursuits look distinctive, with metallic grey sides enhanced by full-length bright turquoise graphics. These sides have a GRP outer skin, which is more dent-resistant than aluminium. GRP lines the inner walls, too. And between the two, Bailey’s unique Alu-Tech construction system involves a timber-free, plastic internal skeleton with high-density polystyrene insulation and aluminium external framework.

Inside, the look is equally distinctive, with near-white seat backs bearing an outline design in bright terracotta, pure white walls and glossy brown worktops that really do look like highly-polished slate.

The 550’s layout, with a central corridor leading all the way down to the shower room across the rear, looks and feels quite spacious even though the wooden walls at the end of each of the beds form a good visual barrier to demarcate the living area from the bedroom. The reason for the spacious impression is that it’s quite a long way down that corridor (4.6m from the chest of drawers at the front) to the shower room…
 

Showering

The shower is a good size, at 79cm x 70cm. But the shower room floor space is comparatively confined, at 79cm x 89cm. There’s no carpet, so a bathroom-type rug would be a good investment to keep your feet away from cold vinyl flooring.

The wardrobe, which occupies the whole depth of the shower room on the offside, gives you a metre of hanging depth across a 70cm-wide rail; that’s ample for the needs of two. There’s a large shelf above the hanging area, plus a cavity beneath the wardrobe floor, ideal for footwear and more.

There’s something really unusual about the layout of the 550’s washroom. The toilet is mounted on the back panel. It’s a feature it shares with only two other caravans, Bailey’s Pegasus GT65 Rimini and Unicorn Cadiz.
 

Sleeping

The mattresses are deep (20cm) and sprung; this may be a budget caravan but Bailey has ensured that the 550-4’s main feature, its twin beds, are as comfortable as you’d find in a house. Both beds are 71cm wide. The offside bed is 1.92m and the nearside one is longer, at 2.04m.

The bedroom’s two forward walls ensure it feels quite separate from the kitchen; the corridor between the walls is only 60cm wide. But there is no partition to completely divide it from the rest of the caravan. That’s a pointer to the fact that this is one twin-bed caravan that is clearly designed for couples, as distinct from the majority of similar layouts which could well be used as family caravans, with privacy for occupants of each end.

You can, of course, create a double bed in the lounge. A base pulls out from under the offside settee.

 
Storage

Wherever there are fixed beds there is excellent storage and the 550’s beds rise, at the flick of a wrist, on self-supporting struts. The Truma Combi water-space heater unit occupies some of the space under the offside bed but there’s plenty left for you to use.

The nearside bed has an exterior access hatch, with a plastic tray to confine any moisture or mud from your walking boots if you choose to put them here. The Premium Pack component spare wheel is mounted under the nearside bed but it doesn’t occupy much space when you consider just how much of a cavernous storage capacity there is here.

The areas under the settees are harder to get at than the areas under the beds, because the two metal spring hinges don’t support the weight of the base unless you take off the seat unit, then you can put the wooden slatted base vertically against the wall. But we don’t think that will worry many buyers because there is ample storage under the twin beds.

Five top lockers over the lounge and four more in the bedroom, plus shelving in both areas, amounts to plenty of space in total.
 

Dining

The dining table is secured in clips against the back wall of the wardrobe. Getting it in and out would necessitate removing hanging garments if the rail is anything approaching full. But that minor inconvenience is miles better than a table stored horizontally under seating or a bed.
 

Lounging

With settees 1.75m (nearside) and 1.57m (offside) the lounge is longer than many caravans. The optional (opening) sunroof fitted to our test caravans does slightly increase the visual look of spaciousness even though the check pattern within the polyplastic (used in all Pursuit sunroofs) cuts down the amount of light compared with clear roof lights.
 

Kitchen

With a surface measuring 53cm alongside the hob, plus more space around the hob (because it's triangular) and also around the sink, we’d rate this kitchen as very well designed. Making meals here would be easy, with little risk of running out of space. Only in one small area is it less than perfect; when you use the plastic drainer, it slightly overhangs the edge of the kitchen surface.

The gas cylinder compartment (proportioned for two 6kg cylinders) is centrally-located, rather than being at the front, so occupies what would otherwise be kitchen cabinet space. But there’s a cabinet (40cm wide, with two shelves) opposite, in the dresser, plus a small one under the oven-grill, although capacity in this one is compromised by heating ducting. Top locker space is more than sufficient for the lightweight items you’d put here. Overall, then, the 550’s kitchen storage capacity is fine for the needs of two.
 

Towing

The 550-4 felt secure and stable on the road even in the gusty conditions of our test-tow day. It would be easy to say some of that good tow performance was down to the vehicle we use for our tow tests (a Kia Sorento), which is much heavier than you really need to tow this lightweight tourer.

But our tow test demonstrated good balance characteristics of the caravan, and that’s the same with any suitable towcar. Just take care, though, if you buy a 550-4, not to be tempted to load too much weight into those easy-to-access spaces under the twin beds, or you might produce a nose weight that’s lighter than ideal in terms of optimum stability.

* Find out about our great Caravan magazine digital subscription offers by clicking here.

* New to caravanning and want a wealth of advice on buying, owning and enjoying your caravan? Order your digital copy of Your First Caravan here.

The twin-bed Bailey Pursuit 550-4 fulfils its objective superbly, giving couples long single beds in a lightweight caravan that, even with the Premium Pack, comes in under £15,000. It’s a basic caravan, at a good basic price, but all you need is here, including a heating system that impressed us with its efficiency in a cold week and the rapid speed with which it warmed the 550.