Hello from Cheshire (and help please)
- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
Hi everyone.
First post here for me on what has been a surprising find. 😀I’m trying to find out if a couple of Dormobile conversions that my father owned years ago are still on the road.
Also, one that I owned myself.Dads ‘vans
Bedford CA Dormobile Debonaire OKJ 351F (she had a maroon stripe back then).
Bedford CF Dormobile Landcruiser ONN 502L (she had a aquamarine blue stripe)My only Dormobile (and the one that started me on a wonderful lifestyle – more below)
Bedford CF Dormobile Landcruiser CET 773LIf anybody has any information on the history/where-abouts of these vehicles, both my Dad and myself would be absolutely over the moon to hear from you.
Many thanks.
Paul Wrigley
Paul dot Wrigley at baesystems dot com (Woodford Aerodrome – Cheshire)
If anybody might be interested in the background of my interest in these ‘vans, please feel free to read on. – tho’ be warned, you might get bored! 😆
Dad got his first ‘van, a CA Dormobile Romany back in the late 60’s when motorhomes were in their infancy.
As kids, my sister and I loved it to bits, all that freedom……in the days when we used to wild camp in a laybye in the Trough of Bowland in Lancashire and spend ALL day damming the streams! Try doing that now! 🙄He then had 2 different CA Dormobile Debonaires in which we toured all over Europe ……….in the days when long motorhome tours were comparatively rare. The neighbours thought we were absolutely loaded! Truth is, Dad worked his backside off all year and then took the whole 6 week school holidays off with us. 8)
His last (and favourite ‘van) was a ’72 CF Dormobile Landcruiser.
Dad was a Dormobile fanatic in those days and absolutely loved the conversions. We always used to travel down from Manchester to Martin Walters in Folkstone to pick them up. As kids, we thought that was an adventure in itself! 😀
We did thousand and thousands of miles in the Landcruiser, including six trips to Rimini in Italy.
Down through France, Switzerland or Austria, on into Cortina and the Dolomites. All those mountain passes and the 2.3Ltr pulled like a train! 😀 In those days, the “Europeans” hadn’t really caught the motorhome bug so we caused quite a sensation going through the tiny “out of the way” villages. Many was the time Dad ended up showing perfect strangers round his pride and joy………..usually when Mum was trying to cook a meal! 😉I can remember the day that Dad decided to sell his beloved Landcruiser. Sis and I had grown up and entered the “don’t wanna be with our parents” phase! What pillocks we were in hindsight! I can remember my Dad literally crying when his pride and joy drove off with a new owner at the wheel. If only I’d been mature enough then to understand. 😳
Well, time marched on, I grew up (I think!) and got married. With a month or two, I said to my new wife, “fancy a motorhome”?
“What’s one of those”? she said!
So, I explained and she very quickly seemed to warm to the idea. Within a week, we drove over to Crewe and picked up our first van, that was 23 years ago OMG, how time flies! 😯 . She was a VERY sorry looking CF Landruiser! Yep, my Dads last ‘van was my first! Not THE same ‘van, but very similar. She cost us the grand sum total of £1500 and I felt like “Yorkie” man bringing her home 😀
We completely gutted her and rebuilt the inside with as much original equipment as poss’ The one concession (sorry purists! 😳 ) being to carpet the roof for extra insulation.
We had some wonderfull holidays in our Landcruiser. I can remember our first outing. Acaster Malbis, near York. ffiona cooked me gammon and new potatoes for our first ever meal in our new pride and joy. I felt like a KING! 😀Well, to try and cut a loooong story short, over the years, we had a sucession of European motorhomes, eventually leading on to A Class American RV’s………..which, in turn, led us into the Fulltiming lifestyle.
We’ve been “out” over 10 years now, enjoying a wonderful, peaceful lifestyle, mainly on small CL’s in the countryside of Cheshire.
Never in our wildest dreams, did we ever imagine that the Landcruiser would eventually lead us into this lifestyle.
Much as we love the space and comfort of our American rigs for Fulltiming ( we currently have a 5th wheel), there is a part of us that looks back and longs for the halcyon days of formica and rubber bellows footpumps for the water!
Wonderful, wonderful days with what proved to be an extremely reliable motorhome ( or “caravanette” as they cringingly used to call them then! 😕 )Dad’s retired and lives in Spain now. We only get to see him and Mum a couple of times a year when we fly out there and many is the night we’ve sat on his balcony with the vino remembering how it used to be with the Dormobiles, the classic being “do you remember how the canvas roof used to rain condensation in the Romany! 😉
Any info you guys can offer would be VERY much appreciated, it’d be great to see his face light up if I can tell him that one of his Dormobiles is still going strong. 😀
Thanks for reading, hope you weren’t too bored!
All the bestPaul & ffiona + Dougal the mad Persian!
Fulltimers
Somewhere on a CL in Cheshire.The vehicle details for OKJ 351F are:
Date of Liability 01 01 1989
Date of First Registration 01 07 1968
Year of Manufacture Not Available
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1600CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour WHITE
The vehicle details for ONN 502L are:Date of Liability 01 08 1994
Date of First Registration 01 08 1972
Year of Manufacture Not Available
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1975CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour RED The vehicle details for CET 773L are:Date of Liability 17 04 2004
Date of First Registration 05 04 1973
Year of Manufacture Not Available
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 2300CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour WHITE
I believe that this means all aren’t current;y taxed, but may still exist.Yep, got those detail myself, from the same web site
Was hoping this place might be able to take things a step further. 8)
Many thanks for taking the trouble to post the info tho’, it’s much appreciated. 😀Paul.
@zaskar wrote:
Yep, got those detail myself, from the same web site
Was hoping this place might be able to take things a step further. 8)
Many thanks for taking the trouble to post the info tho’, it’s much appreciated. 😀Paul.
And what is that website???
All of us may have an interest there… 8)
Marchttp://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/
Hi Marc
This allows you to inquire as to whether a vehicle is taxed or not. Or when it was last taxed. There are also websites (sorry don’t know them) that allows inquiries regarding insurance and mot I believe.Hiya Guys.
As an update to this, I’ thought I’d pass on the following info that I’ve found out. 😀
On Friday, I spoke to a very nice lass from the DVLA at Swansea and explained that I wanted to trace my Dads old vans for sentimental reasons.
She advised me that although (understandably) she can’t pass on personal details over the phone, I could download form V888 (a simple Google search will find it) and, together with a £2:50 fee per enquiry, I can fill in the form giving my reasons for the enquiry and send it to the DVLA.
Providing the DVLA are happy with the written explanation (God knows what the criteria is there!) they will send me contact details of the last known owner.Now, from my point of view, this is a wonderfull step forward because mine is a genuine and innocent enquiry…………………………but what if I was a toe rag with far from innocent intent!!!!!!!! ?
Makes you think doesn’t it? £2:50, and Bobs your uncle! 😯
H.T.H
Z
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
