New for 2027 at the NEC: the motorhome and campervan debuts, hall by hall

New vans are easier to judge in a hall than on a website, because you can open every locker and sit in every seat. The Motorhome and Caravan Show at the NEC Birmingham runs from 13 to 18 October 2026, open 10am to 6pm, and this year the debut list is long: a new Ford Transit-based motorhome range and a refreshed campervan range from Bailey, a new overcab family motorhome from Auto-Trail, Coachman's first Fiat Ducato campervans, a nine-layout Swift campervan and a run of smaller launches from Elddis, Auto-Sleepers, Marquis, WildAx and CamperKing. Below is every one we can confirm, grouped by the kind of van it is, with its hall and stand so you can plan a route rather than wander.

Before you go: how to use this list

Three practical notes. First, the halls at the NEC are big and the stands are not numbered in walking order, so group your visit by hall: Hall 8 alone holds Auto-Trail, Auto-Sleepers and Marquis. Second, where a maker's show page names which vehicles are on its stand we say so; where we have not seen that, we say "ask whether it is on the stand" rather than promise you a van that may be back at the factory. Third, prices below are the makers' on-the-road figures unless we say otherwise, and all of them were checked on 10 October 2026. If a figure matters to your budget, confirm it on the stand, because two sources already disagree on one Bailey price and we flag that further down.

The family overcab debut: Auto-Trail Adventure

Hall 8, stand 8.30. The headline on Auto-Trail's stand is the all-new Adventure, an overcab coachbuilt range with four brand-new models for 2027. The layouts are the 64, 74, 76 and 76G, all built on a Peugeot Boxer. Practical Motorhome reports the Adventure as a four-berth with four travel seats, and Auto-Trail's show page says the 64, 76 and 76G are the ones on the stand, so the 74 is the one to ask about if it is the layout you want.

Pricing is where you need to be careful. Auto-Trail's 2027 price list gives £68,500 for the 6.37 m Adventure 64 and £71,000 for the 7.29 m models, ex-works including VAT, with £455 of on-the-road charges on top, and a manual 140bhp Peugeot Boxer as standard; the 8-speed automatic is £2,850 extra. Dealers are listing the Adventure at £68,955 to £77,950, with layout, gearbox and option packs accounting for the spread. Two dealer listings also describe it as a six-berth rather than four. The standard van has four berths and four travelling seats, but the price list offers six belts on the 76 and 76G for £995, and only with a free upgrade to a 3,650 kg plate, which means a C1 licence for anyone who passed their car test on or after 1 January 1997. So if you are buying for a family of six, ask about the plate as well as the belts, and ask which gearbox the price you were quoted includes.

Who it suits: families who want the overcab bed back, at list prices from £68,500 (the 64) plus £455 on-the-road charges, below the Bailey Endeavour B68 and the Coachman Veloce. What to check: the berth count, the gearbox behind the quoted price, and the payload once four people and their kit are aboard, because we have not seen a payload figure for any of the four layouts.

New motorhomes for couples and small crews

Bailey Ascent

Hall 19, stand 25. Launched on 8 October, the Ascent is a new Ford Transit-based motorhome range with five layouts: the 64-2, 69-4, 69-4TS, 75-4T and 75-4DL. Prices run from £79,799 to £83,999 on the road, a spread of £4,200 across the range. Every model has the 165bhp engine with an 8-speed automatic, and every one is plated at 3,500 kg, which is why Bailey says the range can be driven on a standard UK Category B licence. Bailey's 2027 launch page says some Ascent models will be seen by the public for the first time at the show, so this is a true debut rather than a repeat of a dealer open day.

A four-berth motorhome held to 3,500 kg always raises the payload question, and Bailey's Ascent pages give payloads of 340 kg to 618 kg across the range. Ask for the figure on the exact van you like, and ask what Bailey's running-order figure includes (driver, fuel, gas, water), because makers count those differently.

Who it suits: buyers who want an automatic Transit they can drive on a car licence. What to check: payload on the 75-series layouts, and the 69-4 price, which Bailey's pages give as £81,899 while Practical Motorhome gives £81,999.

Swift Kon-Tiki 740 and 774

Hall 6, stand 6.33. Swift's own show news, updated 1 October 2026, lists 71 vehicles on its stand, which makes it the biggest single display we know of at the show. The two new Kon-Tikis sit at the top of its list: the 740 from £95,995 on the road and the 774 from £114,395, a gap of £18,400 between them. Both are built on an AL-KO chassis plated at 4,500 kg, and that plate changes who can drive them.

If you passed your car test on or after 1 January 1997, a 4,500 kg motorhome needs category C1, which means applying for provisional entitlement with a D4 medical, then a theory test and a practical test in a suitably heavy vehicle. If you passed before 1 January 1997 you hold C1 as an acquired right until your 70th birthday, after which keeping it needs a postal renewal with a D4 medical every three years. One small upside of the heavier plate: a motor caravan over 3,500 kg revenue weight is taxed as a Private HGV at £177 a year for 2026 to 2027, which is less than the £375 charged on a sub-3,500 kg van with an engine over 1,549 cc.

Who it suits: couples or families who want big-van payload and already hold, or are happy to gain, C1. What to check: your own licence first, then the unladen weight on the paperwork, because the speed-limit line is 3.05 tonnes unladen, not the plated 4,500 kg.

Swift Trekker 505

Hall 6, stand 6.33. The other new Swift motorhome is the Trekker 505, built on the Ford Transit, from £81,135 on the road. It sits inside the Bailey Ascent's £79,799 to £83,999 price band, so if you are comparing Transit-based motorhomes at around £80,000 the two stands are worth visiting on the same day. Swift's Trekker page lists the 505 as a two-berth with two belts, with the Trekker's 165bhp engine and 8-speed automatic, and Swift's 2027 motorhome guide gives it a 6.19 m length and a 3,500 kg plate, so it is shorter than any Ascent.

Elddis Autoquest GT and GTS, Whirlwind GT and GTS

Hall 20, stand 20.19. The mcshow.co.uk exhibitor page lists Elddis's 2027 Autoquest GT and GTS and Whirlwind GT and GTS. The useful detail is width: the GTS is 2.2 m wide and the GT is 2.33 m, a difference of 13 cm. Both are wider than any family car, so the GTS is the one to look at if your lanes, drive or storage space are tight, and the GT is the one if you would rather have the extra elbow room inside. The exhibitor page prices the Autoquest GT and GTS from £67,527 and the Whirlwind GT and GTS from £61,227 on the road, but gives no weights, so ask for the running-order and payload figures on the stand.

Auto-Sleepers LXV 65th-anniversary editions

Hall 8, stand 8.25. Auto-Sleepers marks 65 years with LXV editions priced from £84,995 to £88,995 on the road, a £4,000 spread. The collection is the Broadway EL, the new Broadway IB, the Kingham and the Warwick XL, with anniversary styling and upholstery, and Auto-Sleepers' anniversary page offers the automatic gearbox and alloy wheels for £65 on LXV orders, which it says cuts payload by 45 kg. Ask exactly which other items are included and what they weigh, since factory extras come out of the payload before you load a single bag.

WildAx Mercury

Hall 10, stand 10.20. WildAx is launching its new Mercury, which appears on its 2027 price list from £70,995. WildAx describes it as a compact two-berth, two-belt van on the Ford Transit with a rear lounge and an electric drop-down double bed, with a 130bhp engine and six-speed manual as standard and the 165bhp automatic from £72,495, so length, weight and payload are the stand questions.

Marquis: Benimar Primero Lite and Mobilvetta

Hall 8, stand 8.26. The mcshow.co.uk exhibitor page lists Marquis with its Benimar Primero Lite range and Mobilvetta models alongside the new Panama campervans covered below. The page says all six Mobilvetta A-class and coachbuilt models now use a 3,500 kg Fiat 140bhp chassis, but it gives no prices or layouts for them or for the new Primero Lite, so this is a stand to browse with an open mind and a notebook rather than a shortlist.

New campervans

Bailey Endeavour B68

Hall 19, stand 25. The Bailey Endeavour B68 is a new end-lounge layout in Bailey's Ford Transit-based Endeavour campervan range, refreshed for 2027, and the show's listing puts the refreshed range on Bailey's stand. It is 5.980 m long, has four travelling seats and sleeps two, rising to four with the £7,500 pop-top. On the road it is £75,999, so the four-berth version comes to £83,499 once the roof is added.

Who it suits: two people who want a proper lounge at the back of a van under six metres long. What to check: payload, which Bailey gives as 511 kg, or 368 kg with the 143 kg pop-top fitted, and whether the two upper berths suit adults or are better thought of as children's beds, because Bailey's page gives no size for the roof bed.

Coachman Veloce VL65 and VR65

Hall 9, stand 9.100 (Coachman Motorhomes). Coachman is best known for caravans, and Practical Motorhome reports the Veloce as the first time it has built a vehicle on a Fiat in the UK. According to Coachman's Veloce page, the VL65 and VR65 are priced at £86,500 each, with the 2.2 140HP engine and an 8-speed automatic, two berths and four travelling seats. We have not seen a list of which motorhomes Coachman is bringing, so ask whether it is on the stand before you cross the site to see it.

At £86,500 the Veloce sits above every other campervan on this list with a confirmed price, including the top of Swift's new Merlin range by £13,810. That is not a criticism, because price follows specification, but it does mean the Veloce has to show you where the money went. Walk it with the Merlin fresh in your mind.

Who it suits: couples who want a well-finished automatic Ducato campervan from a maker with a long caravan pedigree. What to check: payload, which Coachman gives as 423 kg on the VL65 and 401 kg on the VR65 with the automatic as standard, and which layout suits you: the VL65 has a rear lounge that makes up into a double, the VR65 a drop-down rear double bed.

Swift Merlin, and the gas-free Carrera

Hall 6, stand 6.33. The Merlin is Swift's new campervan range: nine layouts on the Fiat Ducato from £64,190 to £72,690 on the road, which is an £8,500 spread across the range. Nine layouts is a lot of choice from one maker, so it pays to decide what matters before you step aboard: rear lounge or fixed bed, two travel seats or four, washroom size. On a 71-vehicle stand, go early if you want time with a sales advisor.

Two more changes, both reported by Practical Motorhome. The Carrera campervan is now gas-free, with an induction hob and a diesel-fuelled Truma heater, so ask how long its lithium battery and solar panels keep you going off hook-up. And the Monza has been dropped, which makes any remaining Monza stock a dealer conversation rather than a stand one.

Who the Merlin suits: first-time campervan buyers who want the widest choice at the most accessible campervan prices on this list. What to check: which of the nine layouts are on the stand, and the payload on whichever one you like.

Auto-Sleepers Active campervans

Hall 8, stand 8.25. Alongside the LXV editions, Auto-Sleepers has its Fiat Ducato-based Active campervans, the FL635, FG635 and KB635, from £70,099. Ask for their weights, and take the same questions you took to the Merlin and compare the answers directly, because the two ranges start within £6,000 of each other.

Panama P12 SE and P57 SE

Hall 8, stand 8.26. The mcshow.co.uk exhibitor page lists Marquis with the new Panama P12 SE and P57 SE, both built on the Ford Tourneo, and the listing also names a P12 SE AWD. The Tourneo is the passenger version of Ford's van, so these are compact campervans rather than motorhomes, and we have not seen price, berth or weight figures for them. Ask what the AWD version adds in cost and weight and whether it is on the stand.

Converters: CamperKing

Hall 11, stands 11.160 and 11.165. The mcshow.co.uk exhibitor page describes CamperKing's new launch as being built on a larger base vehicle, and we have not seen a name, price or base for it. We will not guess what it is. If you are a buyer who has found the usual compact conversions too small, it is the one unknown on this list worth making time for, and the questions are the obvious ones: what is the base, what does it weigh in running order, what is the payload and what licence does it need.

Three things to check on every stand

Payload

The sentence to learn is this: payload is the plated weight minus the maker's mass in running order, and running order already includes a 75 kg driver, fuel at 90 per cent and whatever water and gas the maker counts. Ask for the running-order figure and ask what it includes, then subtract. Do not add a driver again. Remember that type-approval rules allow the actual running-order figure to vary by up to plus or minus 5 per cent from the declared one, so a van with a thin paper payload can have none at all once weighed.

Licence

Everything on this list plated at 3,500 kg or under, which includes all five Bailey Ascents, sits on a category B car licence. The Swift Kon-Tiki 740 and 774 at 4,500 kg do not: drivers who passed on or after 1 January 1997 need C1. If a stand offers to downplate a heavy van to 3,500 kg to fit your licence, ask what payload is left afterwards, because it is often very little.

Gearbox

Bailey quotes an 8-speed automatic across the Ascent, Coachman quotes one on the Veloce, while the Auto-Trail Adventure, the Swift Merlin and the Bailey Endeavour B68 come with a manual as standard and charge extra for an automatic. So never compare two prices without knowing which gearbox each one includes. Where you have not seen it on a maker's page, ask on the stand and write the answer on the brochure.

Prices that do not agree

• Bailey Ascent 69-4: £81,899 on Bailey's pages, £81,999 in Practical Motorhome. A £100 gap, but confirm which is current.
• Auto-Trail Adventure: Auto-Trail's list price is £68,500 for the 6.37 m Adventure 64 and £71,000 for the 7.29 m models, ex-works plus £455 on the road; dealers list £68,955 to £77,950 depending on layout, gearbox and option packs. Two dealer listings call it a six-berth; Auto-Trail and Practical Motorhome say four berths, so confirm on the stand. Six belts are a £995 option on the 76 and 76G with a free upgrade to a 3,650 kg plate.
• Marquis's Panama, Primero Lite and Mobilvetta models, and CamperKing's new launch: no prices on the show listings, so ask rather than assume.

Bottom line

This is a long debut list, and the useful thing is how it spreads across budgets: an Elddis Whirlwind GT or GTS from £61,227 at one end, a Kon-Tiki 774 from £114,395 at the other, and Ford Transit-based motorhomes from Bailey and Swift meeting in the £80,000 band in between. Plan by hall, bring the three questions above, and treat every figure you have not seen on a maker's own page as something to confirm. If you cannot make October, the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show returns to the NEC from 16 to 21 February 2027, by which time most of these vans will have real-world weights and reviews behind them.