camperfanatic

Making minor improvements to the interior of a Westfalia Joker, based on the VW T25/Vanagon. As any owner of a panel van camper conversion is well aware, making use of all available space within the confines of such a small living area is vital. Some owners go to the extreme when adding additional storage space by cutting, removing and altering units within the van. Personally, I prefer to simply keep the originality of a classic vehicle by adding storage pockets, or creating extra storage from voids not used by the manufacturer. When I use the term 'void', I am referring to the spaces such as those within door cavity's, such as the unused storage space within the side-sliding door. The space gained might be minimal,  and might only allow for the carrying of a few books, tools, dried herbs for cooking or rolled up underwear, but every inch you can pinch is a bonus, in my opinion. My first DIY project within the 84' VW Westfalia Joker was to make use of the void within t...

 Those residents outside of the UK might be unfamiliar with the light commercial van chassis launched in 1952 by Vauxhall in the Britain. 2022 marks the 70th anniversary of a vehicle which would not only change the face of deliveries in the UK,  but would create a new base for a campervan, that would come to be known as the 'Dormobile'. The brainchild of Martin Walter Ltd, based in Folkestone,  the Bedford CA Dormobile would bring the outdoor leisure lifestyle to postwar Britain. It would also alter the face of road transport in the UK as it became a familiar sight in various formats, from basic delivery van, works van, builders van and pickup, mobile shop, gown van, furniture removal van, mobile water bowser, ice cream van and everything in between. The CA was produced at the Vauxhall plant based in Luton, and left the factory by the thousands throughout the 1950s and 60s, until it was replaced by the Bedford CF in 1969. Although Martin Walter Ltd (Dormobile) were by far...

 My association with motorhomes and campervans stretches back to the late 1960s, influenced to a large extent by my fathers Rootes Commer Maidstone campervan ownership, and later his home-built ex-Co-op mobile butchers van. Like the majority of teenagers during that period I discovered music, at a time when the hippy trend was giving way to heavy metal, Glam rock and the tail end of the Beatles. I was a huge fan of bands such as The Kinks, The Small Faces and rock 'n' roll in general. I was a bit miffed when the Small Faces broke up, with Steve Marriott going off to form Humble Pie and the rest of the band becoming The Faces, with Rod Stewart as lead singer. Although a big fan of Marriott, I was never taken with HP, opting to follow the rest of the band and the Faces music. The stand out member for me was always Ronnie Lane, who with Steve Marriott in the Small Faces co-wrote such hits as Itchycoo Park, All or Nothing, Here Comes the Nice, Lazy Sunday, My Minds Eye and many mor...

Illustration of the Bedford CA panel van conversion by Maurice Calthorpe Produced at Vauxhall's Luton plant, the Bedford CF was introduced to the UK market in 1969, replacing the CA model which had been in production since 1952. In this pictorial blog I will display some of the best British campervan conversions produced on the Bedford CF. Pictured above is the rising roof conversion by 'Auto-Sleeper' of Worcestershire. This company began to produce campervans in 1961 on the Austin-Morris 152/J2 chassis, switching to the Rootes/Chrysler Commer in 1963. The Bedford Freeway model seen above featured the distinctive Dormobile roof, with its candy-stripe fabric glass-fibre roof capping. The Freeway was an extremely popular model in the UK throughout the 1970s. Another one from Dormobile of Folkestone, England. The larger Dormobile Landcruiser, with its glass-fibre rear living body. The same body style/design had been used by them for their 'Debonair...

During the current worldwide virus pandemic I'm sure that many people who are self isolating, or living in areas of lockdown are spending far more time perusing internet and social media content as a way of passing the time. Those of you with an interest in retro/vintage camping might be interested in some fabulous old videos available on Youtube, though I realise that not all YT content is available in every counntry, so apologies if you are in one of these. Stay safe people, follow the Government and health specialist advice for your country, and together we can all get through this current world crisis. Enjoy the vid's The Classic Camper club The Rootes/Chrysler Commer

I'm not a full-time writer/author, it is purely a hobby which pays very little, but does give me a great deal of satisfaction. I began my writing exploits back in the early 1990s, copy editing letters which had been sent to a motorhome magazine Editor in the UK; I had no previous experience of such work at that time. The main reason I had been invited by him to assist with copy editing, was my years of motorhome experience, I knew my subject, and most of the letters did require answers to motorhome related questions. I did this for quite some time, without my name appearing within the magazine, but eventually I was invited by the Editor to put my name to a section of the publication relating to technical queries. If I was unable to answer a particular question, then I had several 'experts' to call upon who were specialists in their field; these pages were a popular section of the magazine (and still are), and extended to around four/five pages in Britains most popular motor...