Retro Vanlife, in Mexico with Bill Miller in his Austin-Morris 250JU Motorhome
I've written for a few magazines in the UK over the years, and some time ago a reader (realising I was heavily into retro/classic campervans) sent me a copy of an old paperback book (which he wanted returning), together with a selection of photographs he had taken. The photographs depicted an old Cotswold motorhome (British conversion and chassis) which was sitting in a scrap/breakers yard somewhere in Devon, England. The old Cotswold motorhome looked to be in a very sorry state, with parts missing, though the general bodywork looked quite sound and surely restorable. The accompanying letter with the book and photographs made it clear that the author of the said letter had indeed tried in vain to purchase the Cotswold motorhome from the owners of the yard, who insisted that it had to be crushed, and as far as I'm aware, that is exactly what happened.
The paperback book enclosed with the letter and pictures was entitled; Where Angels Fear to Tread; in Mexico with Bill Miller.
It was published by Ashley Publishing in 1986, and I believe it went out of print around 1993. The book tells a fascinating tale of one mans adventure through Mexico in a British, 1960s motorhome; it is very well written, with some great black & white photographs. Of course upon reading the tales of Bill Miller, and being enthralled by his adventure, I realised that his trustworthy motorhome had made it safely back to the UK, only to end up in a scrapyard, and eventually crushed! What a sad end.
If you are a fan of adventure, and/or classic motorhomes and vanlife, then I would urge you to track down a copy of this excellent book. I found several available on the internet on such sites as ebay and Amazon for very reasonable sums of money.
The ISBN is; 0951089803 & 978-0951089804
 |
| The three pictures above show the Austin Cotswold motorhome sitting in a Devon scrapyard prior to its disposal. (I'm sadly unable to give credit to the photographer as I've mislaid his name, so please get in touch if you read this!). |
It was published by Ashley Publishing in 1986, and I believe it went out of print around 1993. The book tells a fascinating tale of one mans adventure through Mexico in a British, 1960s motorhome; it is very well written, with some great black & white photographs. Of course upon reading the tales of Bill Miller, and being enthralled by his adventure, I realised that his trustworthy motorhome had made it safely back to the UK, only to end up in a scrapyard, and eventually crushed! What a sad end.
If you are a fan of adventure, and/or classic motorhomes and vanlife, then I would urge you to track down a copy of this excellent book. I found several available on the internet on such sites as ebay and Amazon for very reasonable sums of money.
The ISBN is; 0951089803 & 978-0951089804
Comments
Post a Comment