Review: Adria Adora

A European designed luxury caravan still offering great value

Australians have been avid buyers of European cars for decades now, but when it comes to caravans we’ve been a tad slower to jump in.

Perhaps it’s something about the peace of mind you get with a solid Australian-made steel chassis that people feel welded to (excuse the pun). The fast dropping Aussie dollar recently certainly hasn’t helped importers, pushing up the price of foreign-made caravans and RVs.

So far it doesn’t seem to have had a huge impact on Adria which is still landing Europe’s top selling caravan the Adora here for under $70,000 on the road.

Perhaps that has something to do with the fact it’s built in one of the world’s most efficient RV manufacturing plants based in Slovenia. Think German efficiency with a dash of Italian style. This year Adria celebrates 50 years of caravan manufacturing.

Available in Australia since 2007, Adria recently teamed up with the fast-growing Brisbane-based Apollo group, offering a nationwide dealer network and service centres.

Working together Apollo and Adria have fine-tuned the Adora for the local market.

From first sight it’s very much the stylish European. Grabbing your attention straight away is the aerodynamic rolled front and large skylight over the front lounge area.

The roof and walls are a composite sandwich construction, giving strength to the body. In technical terms, 70 per cent of the integral strength is contained in the body structure.

Built for Europe’s climactic extremes, the roof structure can withstand the weight of several tonnes of snow. It’s a claim that will never be tested here, but it does add weight to the argument that you don’t need tonnes of solid steel to have a tough and durable caravan.   The added advantage of the composite construction is you don’t have to worry about hail.

The van sits on an Al-Ko chassis upgraded to suit Australia’s road conditions.

With dual axels and a total length of 6.77m, the Adora weighs in at just 1650kg.

This incredible low weight is a key reason why the van is popular.

Brisbane local Peter Jenda bought a dual axle Adria four years ago, and says it was the lighter weight and ease of towing that really drew him to the brand.

“We couldn’t fault this one – when I looked at the total weight of the van, and realised that some of the bigger named brands, for the same length van, were up to 500kg heavier.”

The Adora 612DP also uses Al-Ko’s anti sway coupling system. It hitches the van to the tow vehicle and also acts as a stabiliser to reduce sway.

Price: $65,000.00

Link: Read the full review in Issue 17 of Time to Roam Australia.

Review by Pete Murray

Watch our video review of the Adria Adora: