Horseboxes boom
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• Specialist coachbuilding is currently faring better than other areas of bodybuilding; the premium horsebox sector is particularly strong.
One leading manufacturer, Banbury Horseboxes, has teamed up with AWD Trucks to offer a range of off-the-shelf boxes priced at around £27,000.
AWD expects the move to regenerate the popularity of the former Bedford horsebox. while Extra Special Vehicles (ESV), which owns Banbury. hopes to sell over 250 Banbury Countryman models, generating around .L7 million of business between them.
The first batch of 30 will comprise four-horse hunting boxes. Two and three-horse versions with living accommodation and more luxurious models with integral cabs, suitable for shows and eventing are planned and a three-horse premium model has already been built. Despite being a sister company to ESV-owned HMK of Denmark (another large, specialist vehicle builder), Banbury has orders for 170 luxury boxes from Scandinavia alone. The group anticipates a combined turnover of around £30 million.
Although a smaller company, Thorndon International builds even larger boxes for both UK and overseas customers, the latest being its luxury Concorde sixhorse model.
Based on a 6.5m Volvo FL617 chassis with integral cab, the 11.9m Concorde offers catering and sleeping accommodation for six, with power on tap from an onboard generator.
Chassis Developments stretched the chassis; the bodywork uses ply/ polyurethane/aluminium composite panels from Unit Panels, based on a box-steel floor section. The roof and sides are self-supporting.