camperfanatic

  It was a long time coming, but finally a book dedicated purely to the various campervans and motorhomes produced on the Rootes/Chrysler Commer chassis. The papaerback edition is A5 in size, and printed in full colour throughout. Similar in style and format to the much loved 'Olyslager' motor manuals of the 60s and 70s. Pictured alongside the Commer manual by Olyslager, the Commer campervan book is a similar size I became a little frustrated that there were no titles available in print which were exclusively about the various Commer campervans, especially in light of the fact that the Commer was in production from 1960 until 1983 (although re-named the Dodge Spacevan by that time). As the Commer holds a special place in my vehicle affections, due to my father buying one in the late 1960s, and the fact that the Commer was my first campervan. My late father 'Perry' with his 1964 Commer Maidstone campervan, pictured in 1992. Pictured top, with its original UK registration

                  The Best Vanlife Books   Since the pandemic, the #vanlife phenomenon has gone absolutely nuts! Prior to the phrase 'vanlife', most of us, well versed in all things leisure vehicle related, were simply referring to it as campervanlife, but as is the trend these days, words are being shortened and language is evolving. Why bother saying 'delicious' when 'delish' will suffice or definatley when 'deffo' will do, you get my drift? So what is 'vanlife'? Well, there are generally two schools of thought, for those that live full-time in a motorhome or converted van, and are living the 'vanlife', and those who are campervan enthusiasts, and use the term as it encompasses, quite literally, the van in their life. Don't get too hung up about who exactly owns the right to define their particular lifestyle or avid interest as 'vanlife', because I think everyone involved in the leisure vehicle world has their right to use w

  Beatles tour vans 1960-66... and other famous band-vans An Austin van, similar to this one, also with two-tone pantwork, was owned by the first Beatles manager Alan Williams, and used by them in the UK and on their journey to Hamburg As a freelance writer, author of four books, and historian on the subject of campervans and motorhomes, I also have an avid interest in classic light commercial vehicles/vans of the 50s, 60s and 70s. Another of my interests is music (listening not playing), and in particular the music and bands of the 60s and 70s. I was fortunate to see many great bands play live during those decades, some at the height of their popularity and some much later on the cabaret circuit. My two interests came together after I began to research which tour vans some of the 60s bands had used, The Beatles in particular as I was/am a huge fan, but this did lead me to go on the hunt for info relating to other UK 60s bands, and how and what they used to cover every corner of the co