Where did they all go? Those once familiar British camper vans...

"I can't remember the last time I saw one of those", sound familiar? It's a saying we hear often in relation to once popular vehicles, and I've said it myself on more than one occasion. Camper vans and motorhomes were produced in even smaller numbers than family cars, so the survival of examples from the 1950's and 60's is even more remarkable today. Those of a certain age will recall those light commercial vans of the 50's which were converted to campers, such as the Austin-Morris J2/152, Ford Thames 400E, Bedford CA and Standard Atlas; but what became of the thousands of examples that were produced on those base vehicles? Well, they have survived with varying degrees of success, but in the case of the Standard Atlas, I doubt more than a handful still exist, ands I have not seen one in use in the UK since the 1990's.

The two pictures above, show the Dormobile camper van conversion based on the Standard Atlas van. First released in 1958, the Atlas was available with a 948cc petrol engine (as used in the Standard 10 car), this was later upgraded to a 1147cc unit, and a further upgrade of 1670cc in the 1960's. As far as camper vans are concerned, there were only two notable models released on the Atlas van, the one above by Dormobile of Folkestone, England and another by Kenex Conversions of Dover, England (pictured below).

A well restored Standard Atlas camper van today is about as rare as 'hen's teeth', and would probably command a considerable sum of money if offered for sale; it remained in production until 1980 in India, where it was built by 'Standard Motors of Chennai'.
After the take-over of Standard in the UK (early 60's), the Atlas was re-badged as the Leyland15/20, and both Dormobile and J H Jennings produced coachbuilt conversions on the chassis, the Dormobile Landcruiser and the Leyland 20 Jennings Roadranger.
Another rarity today is the Austin-Morris 152/J2, first released in 1956 with a 1489cc petrol unit, later upgraded to the 1622cc engine, the Morris J2 and Austin 152 remained in production until 1967 and was converted to a camper van/motorhome by the likes of Dormobile, Jennings, Cotswold, Car-Campers, Paralanian and a handful of others. Some nice examples of a Austin-Morris J2/152 motorhome have survived, both in the UK and in several other countries where they were exported to.

Above is a Morris J2 with a Calthorpe conversion.

Above. Cotswold motorhomes built on the Austin-Morris 152/J2

Featured above is a beautiful example of the coachbuilt 'Paralanian' motorhome, by Central Garages of Parry Lane, Bradford, England.

The Dormobile model with its distinctive rising roof.

Another obscure model today is the Austin-Morris J4, which was released in 1960, and remained in production until 1974, when it was replaced with the Leyland Sherpa. Several camper conversions were offered on the J4 (nearly all with rising roof, not coachbuilt), and by far the most popular of these models was the Dormobile, pictured below.

My final rarity offering is the Ford Thames, released in the mid-1950's, and replaced with the Ford Transit in 1965. The two most popular camper vans on the Ford Thames base were the Dormobile model, the Kenex Carefree and the coachbuilt 'Hadrian'.

Ford Thames 'Dormobile' conversion.