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...

  Classic & retro vanlife, vehicle profiles... In this blog, I am going to take a look back at some campervan profile sheets I produced some years ago for the now defunct 'Motor Caravan Magazine' in the UK. These were a 'cut-out-and-keep' profile included within the magazine over a period of weeks, featuring some of the popular classic British campers and motorhomes. These were written under the pseudonym of 'Perry Thacker', but of course I am better known as Martin Watts, campervan historian/author and general classic motorhome nut!  Let's start with one of the best selling motorhomes within the  UK throughout the 1960s; the Ci/Autohomes 'Highwayman'. The Bluebird/Ci Motorised, 'Highwayman' The Highwayman was first released by Bluebird Caravans in 1958, based on the Austin-Morris 152/J2 light commercial chassis. With the release by Rootes in 1960 of the Commer range, customers were given the option of both the Austin-Morris and Commer as...

                  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 u...