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TECH TALK with Gentleman Jack
In this series of Tech Talk we will be looking at various sub-groups of fascinating motorcaravans and at some of their design features, all from an historical perspective. This month:
So far in this series we’ve mostly looked at specific types of motorcaravans, the next few instalments will be less concerned about the type of motorcaravan and more focussed on what they were/are used for… and where.
AT WAR… Motorised homes were beginning to be utilised by the armed forces of many different European countries as long ago as the early 1900’s. Some only offered a space to sit down or sleep inbetween the loads (usually sacks of food supplies or ammunition boxes) in order to escape from inclement weather and the pervasive mud. Before the end of World War 1, several countries’ armed forces had converted the back of some lorries into proper residential field homes and mobile HQ/command posts [1]. These boasted a full standing-height canvas tilt cover with windows and a double thickness roof, camp beds, plus paraffin fuelled stoves, heating, and lighting. This twin rear wheel model [1] was pictured in France and is a genuine original colour photograph (not a later retouch) from some time after Spring 1916, but before the end of World War 1. It offered comparative luxury for some officers, whilst the ‘cannon fodder’ were knee deep in mud all along the trenches. This pioneering type of colour photograph was named Autochrome and was invented by the French Lumiére brothers.
It wasn’t just humans that had their own mobile home in World War 1, pigeons were similarly favoured [2] – principally because they were a vital method of communication as indicated by their revered nickname; 'The Winged Messengers'.
Although used extensively in the Second World War, the right hand drive Czechoslovakian Praga RV [3] was actually built from 1935 for civilian use. Many ex-army motorised homes, ambulances, radio vehicles, mobile field hospitals, and troop carriers have enjoyed a long second life as global expedition off-road motorhomes. The MAN example [4 & 5] was photographed recently whilst the occupants (a young ‘full-timing’ German family) were visiting the Düsseldorf Caravan Salon.
IN PEACE…
CND – Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmarment – a significant and influential movement for peace – had been growing ever more popular since the late 1950’s. Later some CND supporters found a natural synergy with the ‘flower power’ hippies of the 1960’s. However, most pictures of hippy busses that appear in books, magazines and on-line are of later wannabes [6]. The Summer of Love [7], ‘be sure to wear some flowers in your hair’, took place in 1967, and although global in reach, had its spiritual base in San Francisco, USA. Up until then, all VW Transporter campervans had split windscreens, as in this genuine hippy bus [8] unlike [6] which has a later bay window.
RV historians are adamant that most ‘full-timing’ hippy buses in the mid-to-late 1960’s were not VW’s, but ramshackle repurposed buses and coaches. ‘Further’, previously ‘Furthur’, [9] was a famous example that went on pharmacologically-enhanced continued on p64 continued from p63
‘trips’ (pun intended) crewed by the ‘Merry Pranksters’, led by Ken Kesey (author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest). Supplies included bottles of orange juice liberally laced with LSD. Don’t try this in your `van!
Bridging The Gap Between War And Peace
Two fascinating motorcaravans that bridge the divide. Firstly, a 1939 coachbuilt conversion by Russell and Company of Bexhill on a 1936 right hand drive 4.0-litre 6-cylinder Pontiac sedan car [10-12]. It was commissioned by Captain Francis Scrivens Dunn and Mrs Dunn* at the outbreak of World War 2 to provide all the family with a means of evacuating to safer locations. For many years it could be seen in unrestored, but immaculate condition, at the premises of Poole-based Kampers and Kars, but is now thought to reside with a private collector in America. Captain Dunn contracted polio which resulted in mobility difficulties; thus, his wheelchair replaced the cab passenger seat [12]. When I last viewed the Pontiac, it had covered less than 10,000 miles from new!
Finally, a wonderful creation from the pages of a 1970 club magazine. It is based upon the idea that ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’* and featured a modified VW Transporter [13]. It was part of a series of wacky motorcaravan creations from the pen of a talented graphic artist and used in adverts by Foley Caravans (Motorised). Their GHQ was in Hallow near Worcester, although they also had depots in Birmingham, Cannock, and Wolverhampton. They were main agents for Auto-Sleepers, CI Motorised, Car Camper, Dormobile, and Freedom. Foley was a frequent advertiser in our magazine.
Author’s footnotes: * = different times! (1) There wasn’t a mention of Mrs Dunn’s forenames, or those of their children, in any contemporary press accounts. (2) Foley’s advertising agency would today be reflecting that; 'an English person’s home is their castle'.
Ferry Good for Al-ko
Next month… Motorcaravans for global off-road explorat
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