Chrysler/Rootes Commer Car-Camper Campervan

Those who have followed my camper-related blogs will know about the 1964 Commer Maidstone which both me and my father owned, and the story of how my father came to own the camper three times! Well talk about history repeating itself, this really was a case of deja vu, but this times the tables were turned on me, not my father...

We had purchased the Fiat camper, and were indeed getting great enjoyment from it, but as we were heavily involved in the UK classic vehicle scene, we did feel like a couple of frauds using a 1988 model when our friends were all camping in vehicles built in the 60s and 70s. By coincidence around this time, we had a letter from the owners of our old Commer Car-Camper informing us that they were going to sell it, and did we know of anyone who might be interested? By now readers, you are already one step ahead of me aren't you! Yes, of course, we took all of several minutes to decide, we wanted the lovely old blue girl back in our lives, even if it was a bit slow and cramped for space; it's amazing what you will put up with in a vehicle if you form a bond with it.
Sadly the Commer had sat unused for a couple of years on the owners drive, it was a sad sight, covered in moss, rust to the rear doors, tyres under-inflated and just general neglect; but a deal was done and we had the old girl transported back to our home for some much needed care and attention. With a lot of hard work and the replacement of many parts, we once again got the Commer roadworthy and in use, but then we made a life-changing decision, I accepted voluntary redundancy from my work, with a nice pay off, and as the result of a mid-life crisis (for me!) we decided to buy a house in Brittany or Normandy (don't ask!!!). The Fiat camper was still with us at this point (in addition to the blue Commer) and we used the Fiat to go house hunting in northern France; with the aid of an English agent based over there. After several days of viewing some right rubbish, we were shown a lovely 'longere'  on the Normandy/Brittany border, in an idyllic situation at the end of a long lane, but within a couple of miles of a large town. It had electricity and water connected (a bonus in rural France!), but had not been lived in for around 18 years; I'll expand on the house situation at a later date on a blog in my G+ French Connections, with some before and after pictures. After several visits to the house over a couple of days, and checking out the area (including schools), an offer was made and accepted, and we headed back to the UK to place our cottage on the property market.
Our UK house sold very quickly, and we then sold the Fiat Camelot camper, thinking that we would take our blue Commer with us to France and simply re-register it over there once we got settled (that was never going to happen, as anyone who tried to register a UK classic vehicle in France back in the 90s will testify!). We did make the move to France, spending every waking moment restoring the property, converting the end barn into a lovely 2-bedroomed home, but eighteen months later, for one reason and another decided to move back to the UK. Sadly the poor old Commer did not make the move back with us, and was left sitting on the drive in rural France, in all weathers. It was a couple of years later, after using the french house as just a holiday home, that we decided to sell it (spending three or four weeks holiday a year strimming and cutting grass and gardening against the clock is not a holiday!).
The house in France sold quite quickly, the new owners buying some of the fixtures and fittings from us, and friends over there buying up the remainder, leaving us little to move back except personal items, tools and so forth. The new owners kindly allowed us to leave the Commer parked in a corner of the small top field until we were able to make arrangements to get it back to the UK. Well the weeks turned to months, and now and then I would get reminded by my wife and sons that the Commer camper was still languishing in France, I even spoke about getting it picked up by a local scrapyard over in France as a way of resolving the situation ( we had bought another classic camper since arriving back in the UK). My talk of scrapping the Commer had obviously galvanised my wife and youngest son into action, as I arrived home from work one spring evening to get the shock of my life; turning onto the drive, I was met by the sight of my son sat behind the wheel of the blue Commer! It transpired that they had arranged for the camper to be collected from France and delivered to our home as a 'Fathers Day' gift to me! To say I was gobsmacked would be a massive understatement, as I had come to terms with perhaps never seeing the camper again; though it did look very sad having stood unused for over two years through very hot summers and harsh Normandy winters.

The picture above (top) shows the camper being delivered to our UK home after being transported from France; faded paintwork, rotten rear doors, perished tyres. Picture below taken by my son from inside the camper parked on the drive, capturing the moment I arrived home to get a very big shock!

At the time we also owned a fabulous MKI Ford Transit ERF Jennings Roadranger motorhome, that we absolutely loved, and although we had room for the old Commer, we really didn't need two campers. It was a decision which did not need to be made straight away, as I really had to restore the Commer first, as no-one would want it in that state, if it was  the Commer which had  to be sold.....decisions, decisions!