Your first ever camper?

[dawsey]

Many members will have been camper-vanning for decades, and while now may be enjoying the luxury of decent modern or modern-ish wheels, maybe didn’t start that way…

If you started with an absolute shed, as I’m sure many including myself actually did, it may be fun to recall the discomfort. All anecdotes welcome, continental breakdowns, bits falling off, leaks, underpowered misery etc

My first ‘proper’ camper was a 1977 Bedford CF pop top. Petrol 2.3. Bought for £400 as a student in 1994 to tour Europe. The old slant block engine blew within weeks so I welded in a 35hp 1800cc BMC/Leyland diesel from an old sherpa

It took us to the cafe on top of the Grossglockner, and overland to the black sea though, and just about made it back to UK to be scrapped. Noisy as hell with my home made engine cover, and even with a scrapyard-sourced overdrive to improve gearing, top speed was 60 and max cruise was 50, and many hills had to be taken in 1st gear. scariest was when the vacuum pump supplying the brake servo failed coming out of the Alps - we made it down into a village with a combination of engine braking, both feet on the pedal and the handbrake

 

[Brianmor]

In 1975 we bought a 1963 VW splittie 6v 1200cc had to put a relay in the starter circuit to ensure it would start. Took it down to scary Yugoslavia in Tito's days.
Female soldiers with sub machine guns in charge of filling stations. It was like something out of a George Orwell novel.
2 weeks driving through the *issuing rain 12-14 hours a day. We had one dry day in Cortina which was great. We took 7 different currencies with us which cost us a fortune to change into and then back again, I think that was the only good thing about the euro.
Finally got back to the heatwave in the UK and couldn't open the windows due the the swarms of ladybirds hitting the windscreen and then dying 6"deep in the gutters. Our 1st night back we got the last position in the Worthing campsite right next to the stinking dustbins.
And that was our honeymoon, oh happy memories

 

[davanne]

My late husband and myself bought a Bedford Pioneer in 1988 and that was the start of our motorhoming adventure.

 

[Janine]

My first van in 1988 was a bright orange Toyota Hiace pop-top. We had a matching canvas loo tent.

 

[scotzsue]

Obsessed from childhood, got a small legacy when I was in my 30s, there was a small, home built camper down the street, went up for sale at the same time.
Duly purchased, the large leisure battery which i had seen had been changed for a mini battery, at least it was very small looking to me. It looked like and probably was a van which had had the back cut off and a garden shed fitted in it's place, only slight exaggeration. It was a u shaped back end the bed was massive could easily sleep 4 adults, well 3 of my friends and i lay on it to see, the overcab held 5 kids, looking out the window as we went along, no Rear seatbelts at that time. The habitation door ws a normal wooden house door with a yale key .
Was on a bedford 3 forward gears with reverse where 1st is normally, had to be really careful at lights and roundabouts. Was my only transport when my husband and I split up, didn't get to use it as i wanted with me working and school interfering, but we did have a lot of fun on days out, not so much fun when the habitationdoor swung open on a roundabout, don't dare tell you how many women and children were in it. We had a great day at southport though.
Highlight however was when a friend of a friend came to the door with a bag full of money and gave me almost double what i had paid for it, it had a new MOT and had had all brake pipes renewed, stepson's friend's exam project, only cost me the materials. Only have one photo with it far in the background, must look it out.
Editted to add I cringe when i thionk of how we travelled before H&S stepped in.

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[steve69]

1973 Commer Caravanette.....bought it 40 years ago. All I remember was that it a seemed to be a laugh a minute going places I'd never seen before. Very happy memories.

 

[olley]

Brand new Pop up roof Sherpa van bought in 1979ish. The conversion was good but the sherpa van was a pile of crap. Horizontal seams down both sides started rusting within weeks, heavy steering and brakes, broke down within weeks of us owning it. Sorted most of the problems and kept it for around 5 years. Swopped for a Mitsubishi L300 with an overcab bed at London motor caravans, it was like going from a Trabant to a RR.

 

[Mikeco]

This one, bought it for £5000 and sold it for £6500 a year later.

 

[Two on Tour]

In 1974 aged 18, I bought a 1958 Bedford CA Dormobile for £100, and over that summer me and 3 mates went away nearly ever weekend in it.
On a Friday after work we would see how much we had left over from our wage packets for petrol, food and beer.
We mainly headed for either Brighton of Bournemouth, but if we could get a couple of extra days off work then we went to Weston super Mare, Margate or Clacton.
After a weekend away with 4 blokes not washing, and plenty of farting, the van would smell like several rats had died in it. Sold it for £100 when the holiday season was over.
Great memories of care free days at that age.

 

[Reallyretired]

My first. Started life as a minibus with the Dutch army, then after being imported was sort of converted by an Australian couple who after a year sold it to me. I did another conversion attempt including the fibreglass high top.
Had peculiarities including a wardrobe 2 inches wide. A wardrobe was insisted on by the caravan club at the time, and it would hold a couple of shirts.
Made considerable work for the AA as it probably broke down every time it was driven more than 50miles.
The registration letter is misleading as relates to its first UK registration. It was quite a bit older.

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[pelican]

Not mine but my Parents bought a Commer professional 4 berth conversion 1962. Prior to that we camped with bi -annual trips to Spain in Austin A40 Country Man, Then later with Hillman Husky and various Ford Cortinas.
Had my first VW 40 yrs ago we went to Venice in it 3 eventful times!

 

[Baldybazza]

Our first motorhome was an Autohomes Frontier on a Transit base. It cost us £3995 in 1996 and we p/e 18 months later for £5000. Picture taken in
France.
Great little van that gave us the bug for life

 

[Mikey RV]

My first camper was a 1966 VW split screen, bought for £250 with a years mot. Done thousands of miles in it and never let me down once. Lived in it for six months in Croyde north Devon. Wish I still had it now.

 

[Wh05apk]

My first was a Fiat 900e camper - great fun!

A real Tardis, tiny outside, but the pop up roof gave loads of space.

Not mine but it was similar:

 

[matt34]

My first camper was a 1966 VW split screen, bought for £250 with a years mot. Done thousands of miles in it and never let me down once. Lived in it for six months in Croyde north Devon. Wish I still had it now.

had a 65/66/67 splitty's stayed at bayview all the time in croyde untill they got greedy,wouldnt have another small unpracticall etc good to look at .1st camper 1973 vw baywindow westie.

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[Spriddler]

In the beginning (around the late 80's) I had three gutless 970cc non turbo Bedford Bambis (all late 80's models) in a 6 year spell. At only 3.7 m long x 2.5 m high x 1.56m wide they were compact but surprisingly roomy inside.
Paid less than a grand for each and made around £500 profit on each one when sold. Had to drive in 3rd gear into any head wind.
Mine were very reliable; absolutely basic Isuzu engine - no computer or turbo and simple hab technology. They were built by Autosleeper on a Bedford Rascal base vehicle. We travelled two-up extensively throughout Europe. One trip was to La Rochelle towing my 26' racing dinghy (twice the length of the Bambi!) to compete in the European Finals. I also towed my classic Brit motorbike to many rallies at home and abroad as far as Southern Italy.

Chassis and body rust was the killer but if it wasn't for that I'd certainly have another.

 

[dawsey]

Those little Bambis remind me of the one I wanted for decades - the Karmann Gypsy. After seeing 4, all of which were completely rotten through leaks and corrosion, but we’re still at 5 figure asking prices I gave up the hunt over 10yrs ago. Anyone on here have one?

 

[Mikey RV]

had a 65/66/67 splitty's stayed at bayview all the time in croyde untill they got greedy,wouldnt have another small unpracticall etc good to look at .

Same here Matt, I also had a 65/66/67.

 

[Millcourt]

Our first campervan was a Fiat Amigo. We bought new, part-exchanging our Simca car (anyone remember these?) in March 1973.

At the time they were sold by Fiat Main Dealers alongside cars on their forecourts. We did a good part-ex deal, as the dealer was desperate to sell before VAT had to be charged on it from 1st April that year.

We were young, adventurous (daft?) with no kids, and drove it twice for summer holidays overland to Athens (through the then Yugoslavia)….. one full week driving there, a week in Greece, then one week driving back…… with a flat-out top speed of 62 mph on the level, this required around 10 hours driving each day! These 3-week periods used all of our annual holiday allowance in one go.

When we bought it, we had deluded ourselves that it would double as our daily car transport, as we could then only afford one vehicle. No surprise that we sold it 2 years later.

 

[PDrill]

As I'm barely 50, my first camper (after a few trips with a rented) was not older than 1999. From the early 2000's I've always wanted a PVC-type and didn't consider anything else if I was ever going to afford something. Then I noticed that one of our customers (a garage) had a Solifer 596 on the back yard for months, and turned out it needed a new engine. It was 1.9TD and there weren't plenty of them availabel and the garage wasn't very interested in the project anyway so it had been there for a few months. The garage guy informed the owner of my offer of 4000 eur (which was a almost joke, I know, but like I said I never wanted any of those) and I believe I ended up paying 4500 eur for it. Not bad since the owner paid 18000 !!!! EUR for it for just over a year earlier.

It was a workout to find an engine for it but managed to find one for 1000 EUR. Was more than I was expecting but I was willing to pay more for a good engine. And from then everything went downhill. They were supposed to deliver it on Tuesday and I was expecting to get on the road for the weekend. Well, they delivered it but not with all parts. When I finally got everything, and installed it it didn't start. Finally they sent a new pump and then it started. A lot of suspicious other things on the engine too but after one month of waiting and waiting for something from then, it was ready and ran just fine.

Believe it or not, but it was 'slightly exciting' when my girlfriend insisted that on the first trip she wanted to go to a place over 400 kilometers (250 miles) away. In the winter (Finland), in the dark. When we got there I was a bit relieved after checking all the fluids and they were okay :-D

Some slight problems with the habitation part but for the price it was okay. Had it for maybe year+ and then sold it and got a Hymer PVC.

I don't play with these things, and definitely ever done any money with anything but have to say, from this I even made a good profit and that helped me get the PVC which I never could've afford without this 'nest egg'.

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[Wingingit#1]

Our first -

Still got it and keeping it . ....but thought we'd need more space for winter in spain so bought something bigger aswell.

 

[maison]

Ours would probably have been in the 1970’s and was an Elddis Autoquest 320.

Not bad for its time but the cab design meant that your foot was bent back too far when on the accelerator causing shin pains. Even then accelerate was more a wish than reality and when travelling on a Motorway, if you saw a coach about to overtake, you had to almost drive onto the hard shoulder in order to avoid its bow-wave pushing you about.

We started motorhoming after a serious accident towing a caravan. The Caravan Club’s Red Pennant Insurance paid for us to have a Highwayman Motorhome in order to continue our holiday.

We have never looked back since.

 

[Jev88]

My Dad on a whim traded the family car in for this....... Charming, yes!
Large awning (drive away) yes!
Separate loo tent and porta potty, yes!
Breakdown every serious trip - also YES!

I honestly don't know how he packed three adults and two children and all the other gubbins in it.

 

[Hawkstone]

We started relatively late in life back in 2000 at the age of 37 with a E Reg Talbot Camelot. This was an upgrade ( for motocross ) from our old transit with a couple of extra seats bunged in the back. Served us well, did many miles in her. Poole to Doncaster towing a trailer and motorbike on one occasion. Rust was a nightmare and we had a lot of work done. It had an amazing shower in her. Right in the middle of the van. You pulled up a section of the floor to reveal the shower tray with the shower overhead and a pull around curtain.. A very clever design.
Lovely first van.

 

[Spriddler]

You pulled up a section of the floor to reveal the shower tray with the shower overhead and a pull around curtain..

One of my Bambis had a foot square removable floor section but nothing under it. I never worked out its designed purpose but it was a great convenience at times.

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[Hawkstone]

One of my Bambis had a foot square removable floor section but nothing under it. I never worked out its designed purpose but it was a great convenience at times.

I wish I had taken photos. We have very few pics of that van.

 

[Zoobec]

Our first van is the one we still have now! We bought it unconverted, took the bulkhead out, and went away in it for a trip to the Lake District, with a bed settee strapped in the back, cool box and picnic basket also strapped in the back with a picnic blanket for a curtain where the bulkhead was it’s a lot better now, we have put in a bed, fridge, cooker/sink and toilet, oh and some windows

 

[nicholsong]

Your 'Vintage Motorhome Club' would not let me join as I only started MHoming in 2009.

However I did buy a 1978 sailing cruiser, but that would have been considered luxury compared with MHs of the time, as it had a hot shower, double bed forward, a convertible double in the saloon and two generous single bunks in the rear cabin. That was because it was 10m long. I kept it for 30 years and it now belongs to a friend. Cost me £23.5k in 1987

My first MH does not qualify on this thread as it was, and is, a N&B Arto 69GL (2003) bought in 2009 and still fine. Cost me £27.5k.

I reckon a total of £50k is not bad for 35 years pleasure and with a potential resale value of £25-30k for the Arto, so a net £25k The boat I gave away to the friend as he was going to inherit it anyway - saved him the bullet

 

[dunnah01]

When I was a kid we had a 1967 MK1 Transit Dormobile as our daily wagon. Great for 4 kids on the school run

 

[dawsey]

Our first campervan was a Fiat Amigo. We bought new, part-exchanging our Simca car (anyone remember these?) in March 1973.

At the time they were sold by Fiat Main Dealers alongside cars on their forecourts. We did a good part-ex deal, as the dealer was desperate to sell before VAT had to be charged on it from 1st April that year.

We were young, adventurous (daft?) with no kids, and drove it twice for summer holidays overland to Athens (through the then Yugoslavia)….. one full week driving there, a week in Greece, then one week driving back…… with a flat-out top speed of 62 mph on the level, this required around 10 hours driving each day! These 3-week periods used all of our annual holiday allowance in one go.

When we bought it, we had deluded ourselves that it would double as our daily car transport, as we could then only afford one vehicle. No surprise that we sold it 2 years later.

I love these kinds of stories, we look back in them and really do wonder if we were just daft, ahhh, the confidence of youth. All that trusting to luck!

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