The Dormobile is a 1950s-era onwards
campervan
A campervan, also referred to as a camper, caravanette, motorhome or Recreational vehicle, RV (recreational vehicle) in North America, is a self-propelled vehicle that provides both transport and sleeping accommodation. The term describes vans th ...
(motorcaravan, motorhome) conversion manufactured by the coachbuilder
Martin Walter of Folkestone in Kent.
Initially based on the
Bedford CA
The Bedford CA was a distinctive pug-nosed light commercial vehicle produced between 1952 and 1969 by Bedford Vehicles, Bedford in Luton, England.
It was manufactured in short-wheelbase and long-wheelbase forms, each form available in eithe ...
van, the name is associated more with those and subsequent
Bedford CF conversions than with other vehicles converted.
History
The first Bedford CA based Dormobile motorhome, complete with a gas stove, a sink and cupboards and seats which converted into beds, appeared in 1957.
The elevating roof, hinged on one side and featuring a red and white striped canopy, was quickly evolved in order to make it possible to stand within the vehicle. The campervan idea originated as a compromise negotiated with the UK tax office.
[ Earlier in the 1950s, the manufacturers specialised in converting the ]Bedford CA
The Bedford CA was a distinctive pug-nosed light commercial vehicle produced between 1952 and 1969 by Bedford Vehicles, Bedford in Luton, England.
It was manufactured in short-wheelbase and long-wheelbase forms, each form available in eithe ...
van into a mini-bus, featuring extra side windows and seats. The UK tax authorities asserted that the converted vehicle was effectively a form of estate car
A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate) is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door (the lift ...
, and therefore its retail price should bear passenger car purchase tax, a burden from which buyers of vans were spared.[ However, the manufacturers negotiated an agreement whereby Dormobile converted vans could be sold without purchase tax, provided they incorporated "built-in life support equipment" such as a cooking device, and facilities for the washing and storage of clothes.][ These stipulations triggered a move away from minibus conversions to motorhome conversions, which carved out a substantial new life-style market as the ensuing decade saw a substantial increase in disposable incomes in the UK.][
The novelist ]Anthony Burgess
John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer.
Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, dy ...
and his wife, Liana
A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...
, owned one and used it as a home and means of travelling throughout Western Europe in the late 1960s.
Dormobile
Other vans were converted under the Dormobile name such as Morris Commercial Cars
Morris Commercial Cars Limited is a British manufacturer of commercial vehicles formed by William Morris, founder of Morris Motors Limited, to continue the business of E G Wrigley and Company which he purchased as of 1 January 1924.
History
...
, VW, BMC, Land-Rover, Ford, Leyland, and Commer
Commer was a British manufacturer of commercial and military vehicles from 1905 until 1979. Commer vehicles included car-derived vans, light vans, medium to heavy commercial trucks, and buses. The company also designed and built some of its own ...
. Some of these early vans used for Dormobile conversions were identified by the distinctive side stripe panel, usually painted in a stand out colour. They included Bedford, The Ford Thames, Commer and Morris & Austin J4.
The company subsequently converted a number of different van-based vehicles to other uses, including minibuses
A minibus, microbus, or minicoach is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is us ...
and ambulances, before collapsing in the mid-1990s. In 1997, Dormobile Ltd. was revived and is now based in Lyndhurst, Hampshire. The company carries out modern camper conversions as well as supplying spare parts and full restorations of the classic models.
See also
* Volkswagen Westfalia Campers
References
External links
Dormobile Owners' Club
CF-UK The Bedford CF Owners Club
Dormobile Ltd
{{Vauxhall Motors
Dormobile
Vehicles introduced in 1957
Recreational vehicle manufacturers