ford or ducato

I think your choice of motor caravan will dictate your base vehicle as there are not many Ford base conversions compare to sevel based,ie fiat etc based

if its a Chausson i ca see that you'd be able to choose...

the Ducato is a proven top class motorhome based, purpose designed to ne just that....it ca. be had with a 150/180 version of the 2.3 diesel.

the ford is cheaper but jas had good reviews particularly on cab interior design/ergonomics...but is not yet proven...  

personally, i find the Ford interior/dash too 'busy' (used to german clarity in cars) and the Ducato is still a really good/comfotable camper base and its easy to cover many miles a day in one....i know, ove just had three long days coming back from Spain....a great drive...we have a 150.

I honestly don't think it matters, it's the 'home' part that's most important.

The Mercedes Sprinter from choice but, at the end of the day, the habitation unit is likely to dictate the base vehicle you end up with.

Sprinter for us too. Excellent. 

It is expected that 2018 Ducatos will have ad-blue. That is likely to filter down into the motorhome market with late 2018 builds. However, I would check this out.

In a series of MMM articles on manufacturers, a number said that they use the Ducato for the premium motorhomes [excluding the big liners] and Ford for the more basic models.

Fiat Ducato is the mainstay of the motorhome market. It has its critics but unless you have had a personal bad experience of the vehicles or service, then I would stick to the tried and tested. I've had five and they've been OK.

The Ducato 130bhp is adequate for a 3500kg motorhome. Personally I am happy with my 130bhp but if I had a choice and the money, I'd go for a 'bigger engine'; it will make motoring that little bit easier. If you are not going to do many miles [ say less than 6,000 miles pa], I doubt the choice of base vehicle/engine will be that important.