Might be in line for a vintage 'Cheltenham' caravan (trailor)... FREE to a good home.... It needs work (new floor, interior etc), however the skin is ali and fibreglass, so fingers crossed no rot there. Chassis is still in good condition, although it hasn't moved for about 15 years, so it'll need a good mechanical overhaul... Considering this is England we are dealing with, and the notorious British summer weather (Rain) and after spending many years camping at car shows in a camper van, I'm having trouble adjusting back to life under canvas.... (Waking up in a pool of water at the Hayride was NOT the highlight of the weekend). So I'm lusting after a caravan to tow beind the Edsel Villager..... This might just be the answer.... Anyone got any good advice on caravan/trailor restoration? It would look like this when it is restored... So very English don't you think??
buy the best you can.....most old caravans are cheap and alot are in very good condition. remember this a length of steel is cheap compaired to an upholstry job. I just got an Eriba Familia (real small) to tow behind the A, the inside is in real good shape and even the blown air heater works well...the perimiter frame was pretty shot though so I got it around half price. The floor has been re-enforced with 3/4 exterior ply and the frame re-welded.....like £40 in materials and a day in the mending. Had we needed to re-do the inside you would be looking at a few hundred in material asuming the appliances were OK and a damn site longer to fix up........do know what you mean about camping though. Also get used to the jokes about brown cardigans and the Caravan Club!!
Hi Thanks for that..... If we get this 'van, (were gonna check it out first), then its definitely going to need a floor, sheet steel and marine ply (thought about using marine as aposed to normal for weather proofing, would this be worth it)? Also would stick loads of insulation into it, I'm not keen on being cold... I stuck loads of foam insulation into the Kombi and it was quite toasty, even in winter months.... It encouraging that you managed for fix your floor relatively cheaply and quickly, gives me hope.... Good news is that the chassis is A. OK, the brakes need sorting though.... which isn't an issue. There is an interior in the 'van so thats good news, I work in the fashion industry so I have excess to fabrics at trade... I have loads of brown alcantara left from the last upholstry job I attempted, although I fancy using red metal flake vinyl... Maybe in a tuck and roll effect, touch of leopard print or zebra.... Loggy works in the building trade so can get wood etc trade +VAT, again which would be really handy..... I'm just getting all girly and carried away with the interior details, I used to be an interior designer so this is like a red rag to a bull.... Do you think a metal flake roof and a ghost flame job would be too much?? Ha ha ha ha Bring on the custom caravan, it'll scare the caravan club thats for sure..... Stick some pics up of your Eriba behind your 'A'...... Please
I just love the way y'all talk!! That looks like a cool little trailer!! Hope you get one and yes, it does look very English. I wouldn't mind having a little one like that to take my boys camping with because as you say, waking up in a puddle isn't my idea of fun either.
Cheltenham caravans are cool, they didn't change the design for the 50's to the 70's.. So you can pick up a pretty late version in good condition for about £750 ($1275), but which looks identical to an older one , and yes they are VERY English, there is the Caravan Club (as mentioned by paulatxntric), they go to camp sites at the weekends and sit in wooly cardigans drinking tea from flasks, and fake flowers in the window, you think I'm joking? Take a look at this.... takes all sorts I guess Ideally I'd love an airstream, but I think I'd have to sell a kidney for one of them at this moment... Thing is honey, I love the way you all talk too.... PS - I don't know those old guys, its just some random google picture..
These guys make sitting under a blue tarp look SO VERY glamourous. My neighbor behind me has a small Airstream I've been lusting after for years. If I had some spare money I'd knock on his door but I'd rather have electricity and the mortgage paid on time.
Don't be afraid to walk away from it when you go and have a look, Twinkle. Cheltenham's are fairly easy to come by, they appear on eBay almost weekly, so if there's a load of work to be done, you may be better off paying just a few quid more for a much better one. They are very cool though, loads of C'hams appear at UK rod runs. I sometimes pull a 1959 Carissima behind my A...
that first one is awesome. we don't have a ton of the smaller "caravans" around here without getting into the very expensive Airstream Bambi's.
You know what though, that blue tarp is their toilet tent!!!! Dear god it doesn't bear thinking about does it??? Cool caravan Artiki (lush car too *dribble*)...... Yeah I know, I've been looking for a solid one for ages..... It was the word FREE that made my ears prick up... LOL, I'm a bugger for giving useless old cr*p a new home..... I promise I'll be good and walk away if it is a shed....
Yeah I noticed that The few airsteams that are over here, the Bambi's always fetch more than the larges ones, personally I prefer the Land Yacht's... But at about 25 foot long, on a 19 foot wagon I fear that I may get stuck down one of our 'country lanes', the Edsel is as wide as some of the old roads and its a pain the the bum when another car comes the other way.... I would be carnage, literally...... Maybe I could start shipping them out to you guys??? There again why on earth would you want a 'van thats been sitting in the UK with the rain and the salted roads.....
When you go and look at it, check for any signs of damp inside (obviously!), but also check to any signs of the exterior aluminium delaminating from it's interior frame. That's a sign that moisture has got inside and is affecting the framework. My Carissima has been decorated with bamboo and tiki art inside alongside leopard print curtains. They can become as much of a project as the cars.....
SERIOUS **DRIBBLE**..... I NEED to see your caravan!!! PLEASE I BEG YOU to put up some pics of the interior... Sounds so like something I would love.... We're turning our spare room into a bar, I bought the other half a 9ft x 6ft 'murial' just like Hilda Ogdens for Christmas last year, much to his dismay and eventual amusement... Got the flying ducks ready Thanks for the advice though matey, it all helps....
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