# Carawagon Junkie  :)



## rms

Hi guys & gals,

I've been lurking here for a while, but thought it was time to introduce myself (especially as I've also asked a question re. Skipton wild camping!).

My 'motorhome' is actually a 1966 Land Rover Carawagon.
For those of you not familiar with these, it's a vehicle converted by a company called Searle especially for expedition use.
There are also Land Rover Dormobiles (and I would imagine there are probably some on this forum); the Carawagon is similar, but Searle were traditional boat builders so instead of using fibreglass and steel like Dormobile they used mahogany veneered blockboard and marine ply, and a special flexible alloy panel for the roof.
There is a double bed, made up from the seat cushions, two bunks in the roof, sink, cooker, fridge etc.
We also have Eberspacher heaters fitted to ours so we can winter camp.

Like most classic campers, they are fairly rare now - we estimate there are only about 50 still on the road. I've got three of those (one on the road and two restorations in progress) and my son has an even rarer Station Wagon Carawagon which we restored - we think there are less than 10 of those left!

Here's a picture of a couple of us at a show last year:



In 2011, a group of us, 3 Carawagons and a Land Rover Dormobile went on an expedition to Morocco, overlanding all the way down through France and Spain, wild camping wherever we could.
There's a blog here: MOROCCO OVERLAND - WORK IN PROGRESS with some of the highlights of the trip.

We get away for a lot of shows in the summer, mainly Land Rover and Classic Car shows, along with a couple of Overlanding shows, and we try to wild camp as much as we can.
As we are expedition vehicles, we can sometimes wild camp out of the way, up green lanes or even in the desert  :cool1:

Here's a couple of us up on Grewelthorpe Moor a couple of years ago, on a Christmas holiday camp; only one Carawagon as I was restoring mine then so went in a ratty old Land Rover

.

Oh, and just in case anyone doesn't realise, the roof folds flat when travelling  


Anyway, that's just a flavour of what we're about - if you want to see more of what we get up to, we have a forum called (Land Rover Classic Campers) where you are welcome to browse  :wave: 

Cheers,
Robin.


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## snowbirds

*classics*

Hi rms,

I was a member with the Dormobile Owners club for many years and we had a good Land Rover section with the pop tops a great motor. While in the club one of the members set up company converting Later land rover Dormobile's using the old name but run into problems with some old debtors coming after him for some reason and I think it nearly broke him. I have seen a couple of the new one's on the Discovery for sale on E-Bay. I had a short wheel base series 2 to pull horses about a great off road motor and I still have a soft spot for them as they are so easy to work on.

Regards Snowbirds.






rms said:


> Hi guys & gals,
> 
> I've been lurking here for a while, but thought it was time to introduce myself (especially as I've also asked a question re. Skipton wild camping!).
> 
> My 'motorhome' is actually a 1966 Land Rover Carawagon.
> For those of you not familiar with these, it's a vehicle converted by a company called Searle especially for expedition use.
> There are also Land Rover Dormobiles (and I would imagine there are probably some on this forum); the Carawagon is similar, but Searle were traditional boat builders so instead of using fibreglass and steel like Dormobile they used mahogany veneered blockboard and marine ply, and a special flexible alloy panel for the roof.
> There is a double bed, made up from the seat cushions, two bunks in the roof, sink, cooker, fridge etc.
> We also have Eberspacher heaters fitted to ours so we can winter camp.
> 
> Like most classic campers, they are fairly rare now - we estimate there are only about 50 still on the road. I've got three of those (one on the road and two restorations in progress) and my son has an even rarer Station Wagon Carawagon which we restored - we think there are less than 10 of those left!
> 
> Here's a picture of a couple of us at a show last year:
> View attachment 11491
> 
> In 2011, a group of us, 3 Carawagons and a Land Rover Dormobile went on an expedition to Morocco, overlanding all the way down through France and Spain, wild camping wherever we could.
> There's a blog here: MOROCCO OVERLAND - WORK IN PROGRESS with some of the highlights of the trip.
> 
> We get away for a lot of shows in the summer, mainly Land Rover and Classic Car shows, along with a couple of Overlanding shows, and we try to wild camp as much as we can.
> As we are expedition vehicles, we can sometimes wild camp out of the way, up green lanes or even in the desert  :cool1:
> 
> Here's a couple of us up on Grewelthorpe Moor a couple of years ago, on a Christmas holiday camp; only one Carawagon as I was restoring mine then so went in a ratty old Land Rover
> View attachment 11493
> .
> 
> Oh, and just in case anyone doesn't realise, the roof folds flat when travelling
> View attachment 11494
> 
> Anyway, that's just a flavour of what we're about - if you want to see more of what we get up to, we have a forum called (Land Rover Classic Campers) where you are welcome to browse  :wave:
> 
> Cheers,
> Robin.


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## rms

Yes, still a strong contingent of Land Rovers in the Dormobile club, I understand.

The guy in the LR Dormobile who came to Morocco with us is quite active it that club. 

Dormobile is now owned by a company down south, and they still produce the original roofs for Land Rovers and the other classics.

The last time I bumped into them (at the first Adventure Overland show in October last year at Daventry) they were quoting just over £2k for a DIY fitting kit or around £3k fitted.

Cheers,
Robin.


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## yorkslass

hi, :wave::welcome:


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## rms

Hi, to another member in God's own country


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## sasquatch

Welcome friend, I am so jealous I had a Searle Safari on an 88 tropical roof model. I p/xd it for a Carawagon on a long wheelbase 6cyl. That went to Egypt in the 80s,the old route through Yugoslavia and through the Corinth canal to Alexandria.
I swapped it on my return for a 'bay' VW. I was hoping to find the conversion on the Range Rover,but it was not to be. I do miss the fun I had in them.


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## phillybarbour

Hi and welcome, never seen or noticed these vehicles before they look both very special and very capable. My wife Lin drive s a Range Rover and we have been off road with it on specific courses it's amazing how capable it is, combining this with a M/H must open up so many options not available to my in my van. Looks fabulous.


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## rms

Thanks for the welcomes and interest in the Carawagons.

They are certainly capable, check out this YouTube video of us climbing Rudland Rigg in North Yorkshire.
[video=youtube;AxNgUWLUvSA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxNgUWLUvSA[/video]

That's probably about as extreme as we'd like - notice the 'helpers' directing us around some of the bigger rocks - underslung water tanks and gas bottles are a bit of a worry in these situations  

We climbed some tracks in the Arlas mountains in Morocco, but none as bad as that  

Cheers,
Robin.


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## snowbirds

*Great pictures*

Hi rms,

Great film, nice to see the Land rovers still have it, all the 4x4s around here are Chelsea tractors they never get mud on them on the school run.

Regards Snowbirds.:drive::drive: 






rms said:


> Thanks for the welcomes and interest in the Carawagons.
> 
> They are certainly capable, check out this YouTube video of us climbing Rudland Rigg in North Yorkshire.
> [video=youtube;AxNgUWLUvSA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxNgUWLUvSA[/video]
> 
> That's probably about as extreme as we'd like - notice the 'helpers' directing us around some of the bigger rocks - underslung water tanks and gas bottles are a bit of a worry in these situations
> 
> We climbed some tracks in the Arlas mountains in Morocco, but none as bad as that
> 
> Cheers,
> Robin.


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## mark61

Nice to see the Carawagons out and about.


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## rms

sasquatch said:


> Welcome friend, I am so jealous I had a Searle Safari on an 88 tropical roof model. I p/xd it for a Carawagon on a long wheelbase 6cyl. That went to Egypt in the 80s,the old route through Yugoslavia and through the Corinth canal to Alexandria.
> I swapped it on my return for a 'bay' VW. I was hoping to find the conversion on the Range Rover,but it was not to be. I do miss the fun I had in them.



My son's 'daily drive' is a Searle Safari 88" with tropical roof - it was his first car 5 years ago and he's still got it, as well as his SW Carawagon.

He's done many thousands of miles in that, with regular trips up to his old university stomping ground (St Andrews, Scotland) and up into the highlands, full of his University friends, for winter breaks. He was (is) a member of the university hill walking club, so they get all over Scotland in it.

He loves it, and even though he's also got a boring Peugoet 307, he still prefers to drive the Land Rover! Oh, and it's got a Rover Montego Prima Diesel engine in it so he gets 40+mpg  

Cheers,
Robin.


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## rms

sasquatch said:


> Welcome friend, I am so jealous I had a Searle Safari on an 88 tropical roof model. I p/xd it for a Carawagon on a long wheelbase 6cyl. That went to Egypt in the 80s,the old route through Yugoslavia and through the Corinth canal to Alexandria.
> I swapped it on my return for a 'bay' VW. I was hoping to find the conversion on the Range Rover,but it was not to be. I do miss the fun I had in them.



I don't suppose you remember the reg number of the Carawagon, do you?

It might be interesting to see if it's still around and being used


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## Deleted member 21686

Welcome to the forum.


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## ellisboy

Nice to see a fellow Landrover owner on here! :wave:


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