Verdict
With a load of useful extra spec, particularly when it comes to the outside and to towing, but an OTR price that’s still the right side of £20k, the Pegasus GT70 range of Bailey caravans is a compelling proposition for the 2018 season.
The Brindisi, featured here, has an impressive kitchen and a host of storage options, but the rear bedroom is a bit squashed.
Pros
There’s excellent storage, with great access
Al-Ko ATC trailer control is fitted as standard
The kitchen is roomy
Cons
Space around the island bed is too tight when in night mode
The shelves under the speakers are a bit low
Bailey is limbering up to celebrate its 70th birthday next year.
Such milestones have involved the launch of special-edition ranges in the past – this time is no exception…
Here’s a model from the new Bailey Pegasus GT70 range, to give it its full sporty moniker.
It’s a specced-up version of Bailey’s mid-range offering for this season. Our chosen model is the end-washroom, transverse-island-bed Pegasus GT70 Brindisi.
And to see other Bailey caravans for sale, click here.
It’s good to have two externally accessed lockers
Pitching & Setting-up
A quick look at the extra spec you get on the outside of your van for the money possibly explains why these special editions can be so popular.
An Al-Ko ATC trailer control system is included as standard, along with the stabiliser which previously was all you got on the Pegasus range of Bailey caravans, so towing this 7.37m-long van was a relative breeze.
The 14-inch alloy wheels come in a fetching charcoal colour that complements the dark blue of the decals.
You also get a drip-tray for the exterior door that hasn’t before been included on a Pegasus, while there are wet-locker-style floors for the external lockers – very impressive.
There’s also a window in the door, along with a bin that has a dustpan and brush built into its top.
All the windows are a new aerodynamic design and you get a 100W Truma solar panel.
Living
A plastic grabhandle helps you in through the door. At the entrance there are also coat hooks and controls for the electrics.
On our test model there was a substantial shark’s fin-shaped bolster on the edge of the nearside settee, that serves as a useful draught-stopper – and it stays in place however much you throw at it.
This ergonomically designed feature is a £63 option, but we think it is one worth having.
The two settees in the Bailey Pegasus GT70 Brindisi’s lounge would adequately seat four, but they probably wouldn’t take many more than that.
There are two shelves at the top of the side windows, beneath the speakers and the CD/MP3 player/radio.
These may provide useful storage, but they mean anyone shuffled into the far corners of the sofas will feel cramped – taller people will also have to watch their heads as they stand up.
But if there are only two of you on tour, you probably won’t sit here anyway, because the TV and mains sockets on the ledge below the front windows mean the most obvious place for any TV is on the centre chest.
The ambient lighting around the windows is complemented here by four spotlights and two LED lights above each settee, plus (new for the GT70 range) three large LED lights at the uppermost end of that huge, sweeping central window.
You also get two blown air vents at the bottom of the chest, so even in winter the interior should be cosy as well as bright.
The lounge’s freestanding table is a good size, although it has to be fished out from under the island bed beyond the kitchen, and when stowing it, you need to place it precisely between two slots – we found this quite a task.
We think the new interior furnishings are pleasing on the eye.
The warm Mendip Ash woodwork, with a contrasting stripe on the Italian-designed locker doors and a neutral grey on the settees, works well with the willow and geometric patterns on the curtains and scatter cushions.
Kitchen
The flap that extends the kitchen worktop is large, but because the Brindisi’s kitchen is L-shaped, with the round sink and four-burner dual-fuel hob towards the other end, this extra food-preparation area is some way from where the main cook would likely be stationed.
There are two mains sockets nearby and, on our model, a Truma iNet control, although on production models this will be a retailer-fit option.
The whole area is well lit with large LED lights below the overhead lockers and microwave, and smaller LEDs in front of them.
The L-shape is there to accommodate the gas-bottle locker. But you still manage to get a large pull-out cutlery tray and three shelves behind the elegant curved cupboard door.
There’s another good-sized cupboard with a shelf to the right of this, before you get to the Thetford Caprice Mk III oven and grill, with an integrated pan locker underneath that is mostly taken up by the wheel arch.
To the right of the oven is a slender cupboard, featuring holders for three wine bottles.
The overhead lockers in the kitchen are differentiated from those in the lounge by having push buttons, rather than handles – they do swing high, however.
On the nearside, opposite the main kitchen area, is a 134-litre Dometic fridge and freezer. The locker below it houses the fuse box, but the one above it is clear – if you can reach it.
Washroom
The end washroom in this Bailey caravan seems a bit narrow.
It has a clear window along the back wall which lets light in without compromising your privacy, as it is set quite high and over the sink, and it has a blind.
A basin sits on top of a shelved cupboard with small shelves around it. It is well lit with a large mirror and a useful hook.
The shower cubicle at the end is very impressive: sturdily built with two LEDs, a rooflight and a shelf for gels, shampoo and so on.
You also get a toilet-roll holder and plenty of space for more rolls.
Beds
With the island bed rolled back into the daytime position, the Bailey Pegasus GT70 Brindisi’s master bedroom is a pleasure to be in.
There are two spotlights over the headboard and two more lights higher up in front of the lockers, so you shouldn’t have a problem reading.
There is a small dresser in the front offside corner with its own socket. This is handy, because even if you used the socket on the fabric panel next door for the TV – which you can mount here – you would still have an extra power supply for a hair drier. Although, bizarrely, the dresser doesn’t have a mirror.
For £209 you can buy special Bailey-branded polyester bedding that matches the patterns in the lounge.
However, roll the bed out to its full length (1.86m x 1.42m) for sleeping, and things are not so pleasing.
The gap around the bottom of the bed (especially if you fit that bedding and the TV) is so narrow that anyone trying to get past during the night would wake a light sleeper unless you’re careful.
The wardrobes either side of the bed are useful and each has a cupboard beneath, although the one on the far side is a little narrow.
Bailey has, however, cleverly put in yet another socket at the end of the bed on this side, which you could use to power something in the washroom as well.
Between the wardrobe/cupboard units that flank the island bed are small built-in shelves, ideal for your specs, a cuppa or maybe a book or phone – but they are quite slender, so take care to not knock items onto the floor.
The front make-up double is good and large (1.94m x 1.35m) and, unlike the new Unicorns, still uses slats and Bailey’s ingenious Dream Sleep system, which creates a surprisingly flat surface with relatively little faff.
You can leave the settees up as singles, but you only get beds that are 1.59m long – and you have to find a storage place for four bulky backrests.
Storage
It’s good to have two externally accessed lockers in this Bailey caravan.
Unusually, the battery is located in its own cubbyhole in the floor under the island bed, so it doesn’t take up any of the space in here.
The two underseat areas are also relatively clutter-free: the water heater is positioned in the offside space, but it is nicely partitioned off. It’s just a shame there are no internal access flaps to either of these areas.
You get four shelved overhead lockers in the front lounge, those aforementioned corner shelves, plus a two-drawer chest in the middle with a small locker under it.
In the bedroom, along with that huge space under the bed and the wardrobes, there are larger unshelved lockers over the bed, with a shelf in between.
Technical Specifications
| Berth | 4 |
| MiRO | 1296 kg |
| Payload | 154 kg |
| MTPLM | 1450 kg |
| Shipping Length | 7.37 m |
| Width | 2.23 m |
