What was your first camper van/motor home?

[Red Dwarf]

With the recent huge increased interest and ownership of motor homes and the like, it got me thinking about how did I get the bug?

Thinking back, my first van was a badly looked after VW T2 panel van. The van wasn’t that old, but had been used heavily and among other things, the clutch was slipping when I bought it.
In a matter of a few days I’d learned all about taking VW air cooled engines out (very easy!), bodging up bodywork and simple electrics. The van was lined when I got it, I built a sleeping platform that sort of folded away and fitted a cooker. Trimmed it with free off cuts of carpet and then hit the road for the summer. I was well made up!

It wasn’t called van life back then, it was called a yobbo in an old van...

 

[Makzine]

VW T25 last of the rear engined 1.6 diesel went from Scotland to the Mediterranean with her and definitely miles for smiles.

 

[GinaRon]

A ford frontier I called freda. I always wanted to try it persuaded the boss to buy it and we was away, thankfully he liked the life as much as me, as soon as we did a few Morgan the Moon meets we were addicted. Bought a bigger van 2013 we still have. Still love it though we dont do many meets but maybe that will change next year.

 

[2cv]

Still got our first one, seen here being collected at South Yorkshire motorhomes in September 2012.

 

[Scotia]

508 Mercedes race transporter. Basic with a double mattress two single beds and baby belling cooker.

 

[n brown]

Morris Minor gown van ,you could stand up in it and put 2 kids in the luton . cost me £40 and drove like a boat

 

[Deleted member 81036]

August 1970, a Ford Anglia van. Just loaded it with what we thought we needed, bought a one-way ticket Dover to Ostende and came back to the UK 17 years later.
The only mistake we made was in 1987

 

[jann]

In 1983 we bought a five year old Fiat amigo, very small.we travelled all over Britain from Lands End to John O Groats. Also went to France in it. We kept it for five years, then bought a newer van of the same model.which had been used as a florists van.Everything from the old van was used to convert the new van,which we kept for another three years.
Good fun at the time, we have had bigger vans since,wouldn't like to go that small again.!

 

[Wully]

Old Peugeot 505 7 seater estate car seats folded flat slept 4 comfortably.

 

[TeamRienza]

My family bought a touring caravan when I was perhaps 10, so around 1964. We continued the tradition after marriage as I thought it was a great way for kids to have simple holidays and learn about their own country. After they had grown and lost interest we continued.

Now here is the point. The caravan battery needed replaced, about 2010, so we went to see what was available to fit the battery compartment. Bought a Motorhome at £27,000. To be fair, I had fancied a Motorhome for many years and my wife had recently got a lump sum on retirement, so I felt I had to give her advice on how to ‘invest’ it!

Test drove it on a Monday after thinking about it over the remainder of the week end. Very trusting dealer, simply handed over the keys and told us to take it for a run. All good, paid the money and never looked back. Great local dealer, had the van serviced and hab checked.

The van was a 2007 Autosleeper Rienza with a U shaped lounge and huge windows. This converted into a massive double bed. It had a Ford Transit base which were driven on a daily basis by me in work in minibus form. The van was about two and a half years old and had been beautifully maintained by its elderly owner who had to give up for health reasons. I was able to verify the history and reason for sale by chatting to him.

That was the starting point for our first excursions into France and what a fortuitous purchase as we came to love Aires and a bit of wilding at home. A fantastic first Motorhome combining the best elements of caravan and Motorhome. We potentially could have kept it much longer, but wanted to plan for our retirements and I had a lump sum now with bank interest at 0.5% so bought new in 2016 a van with an island bed, separate shower and toilets and all on one floor level. Hopefully this van will see us out, although I begin to see our final years using a smaller panel van in tandem with occasional premier inn nights for showers etc.

Davy

 

[n brown]

this is wgat it looked like when i bought it ,i painted it dulux red gloss and put 4 windows in it - foam mattresses ,2 burner and grill and a bucket and we were offski !

 

[HurricaneSmith]

We camped in tents for many years, some from before our wedding in 1973....

Finally in 1989 we bought a caravan, an Avondale Perle Olympus. This was it's first trip away somewhere in Sussex, and later down across the Gironde:

In 2007 we bought our first motorhome, an AutoTrail Tracker that took us all over Europe with incredible reliability:

In 2018, we decided to buy an AutoTrail V-Line 635SE, and this was it's shakedown on 8th May 2018:

Because it's so young, we suspect that this may be our last camper, but hope to create many more memories whilst we still own it.

 

[Goggles]

An Autosleeper Trident T3. F reg. We had so much fun in it but we were a lot younger and more nimble then.

 

[Scotia]

Found a pic of the smog monster, we pulled it out of a scrap yard for £500, new rear wheel brake cylinder and a fresh mot, ran it up and down the countryside for three years and never missed a beat. Rag arse racing!

 

[GreggBear]

I bought a 79 mk2 Escort van & put some old caravan cushions in the back & away I went! No seals on the back doors, so cold & wet but I loved it...
Got a 16ft caravan next to tow with the van, dragged it down to Milton Keynes in '88 to work the season spreading lime. Wrecked the caravan that year, so next I bought a mk1 Renault tragic minibus. Short wheelbase standard roof with no rear seats, but it had a towbar. 1700cc petrol auto, lovely bus. Played a house door across the back for a bed, sink unit out of my wrecked caravan & some very dodgy looking 70s curtains off me mam & were off again! Used to strap a manky old tarpaulin over the side to make a very rough looking awning & 6 or 7 of us used to go off to a farm at Sandsend every chance we got. Blew the box out of it eventually, then instead of a replacement bus I ended up with a mk2 Toyota Hilux pickup with an old s2a landrover stick set & canvas top cobbled onto it. Bit cold in winter but I was young & didn't care...
Next came a few small vans then I got lured into matrimony for a while. After that ended I was flat broke for a while then the Iveco bus came my way, & the rest is history. .....

 

[GreggBear]

Found a pic of the smog monster, we pulled it out of a scrap yard for £500, new rear wheel brake cylinder and a fresh mot, ran it up and down the countryside for three years and never missed a beat. Rag arse racing!View attachment 103003

Love the old Mercs. Would have been my first choice if they weren't all rotten.....

 

[Scotia]

Love the old Mercs. Would have been my first choice if they weren't all rotten.....

There was a clean one for sale the other day which was garaged when not in use.

 

[caledonia]

Found a pic of the smog monster, we pulled it out of a scrap yard for £500, new rear wheel brake cylinder and a fresh mot, ran it up and down the countryside for three years and never missed a beat. Rag arse racing!View attachment 103003

Is the guy in the kilt blowing chunks?

 

[Scotia]

Is the guy in the kilt blowing chunks?

Which one? Will tell ye a story about that weekend when we meet. That was the GP at Donnington early 90's

 

[caledonia]

Which one? Will tell ye a story about that weekend when we meet. That was the GP at Donnington early 90's

The guy in the middle looks like he’s put doon his export tae spew his load.