1957 BEDFORD DORMOBILE CAMPER - COACHWORK BY MARTIN WALTER ...

Estimate

£9,000 - £10,000

1957 BEDFORD DORMOBILE CAMPER - COACHWORK BY MARTIN WALTER

Registration Number: UUU 746
Chassis Number: CAV89331        
Recorded Mileage: 56,500 miles       

- First owner until 2013 (two owners in total)
- Completely original and unrestored
- Static museum display in current ownership

Nowadays an ever-present part of the British motoring scene, the motor home or camper van can trace its current popularity back to the Dormobile of the early 1950s. The Dormobile conversion for light commercial chassis was the work of Martin Walter Ltd of Folkestone, Kent, a long established coachbuilding firm that specialised in providing 'standard' bodies for a variety of motor manufacturers throughout the 1930s. After WW2 the firm began offering motor caravan conversions of the Bedford Utilicon before launching the definitive Dormobile on the Bedford CA chassis in 1954. There had been similar conversions in the past but the Dormobile's elevating roof was an inspired breakthrough. The 'Dormobile' title was also applied to conversions of Austin, Standard and Vauxhall estate cars and was later adopted as the company name.

The first owner, a Mr. Bernard Tucker of Rotherhithe in South East London, visited the Bedford stand at the British Motor Show of 1957, placing an order on the same day for a new Dormobile.

His new camper was handed over on 25th January 1958, and then used for family holidays as far as Monte Carlo and back before being stored in a heated garage from the late 1970s after succumbing to a minor braking fault. The Camper was finally pulled out of storage in 2013 and sold to the next and current owner, who has displayed it as part of a larger classic car collection.

Our vendor has attended to the brakes and overhauled the carburettor, as such the camper now starts and stops well, and has been driven locally without issue. Bills for c. £900 support this recent work. 'UUU 746' is perfect for trips to the Goodwood Revival and other historic motoring events, and is complete with the original purchase invoice, a copy of the older logbook, a number of older MoT certificates and current V5C document.