How many dormobiles ever built?

[Bea]

@Jonny wrote:

Phil, that’s amazing, can I just double check with you, these records do actually specify these were despatched to Dormobile? (I know you state it, but I almost can’t believe it) I never thought we would get to a production quantity.

Thanks
John

Hello John,
Sorry, I thought you knew I had undertaken this project.
In 2007 I spent 3 days down at Gaydon in the Reading Room working with Richard to document all the Series 2 and 2A production that were despatched to Martin Walter Ltd. This was to my simple mind probably the best way to get a reasonably accurate idea of how many Dormobiles were produced. All of the records were faithfully transcribed onto an Excel Spreadsheet laid out as in the factory records and containing the same information.
Since then I have received requests to check most of the ‘usual suspects’ plus a few others against the spreadsheet and I maintain a few basic details as a register if an owner is happy for me to hold it, I also keep an eye on eBay etc and if a chassis number is given I take note just to keep a rough idea of how many may still be in use etc. I am not particularly rigorous about this though as I do not wish to start having to worry about data protection etc.
We were very thorough on the original data collection checking and rechecking across all chassis ledgers but as you know 99.9% of production was on Export Chassis.
As stated my aim was to trace Series 2 and 2A production but I did continue a few days later with Series 3s for the sake of completeness, I stopped looking at Feb 75 as supply to MW dried up in Jan 74, ie there were no Land Rovers of any chassis variation supplied to MW between the end of Jan 74 and Feb 75. However it is probable that there was the odd one off between that period and thereafter, I am aware of three private purchases 1 2A and 2 3s Home Market Station Wagons that were converted that way and I suspect there were a few more plus a small number of 3 door conversions.

In the absence of the Martin Walter Factory Records this methodology is probably the only way to get a reasonable idea of production and it should be possible to carry out a similar exercise on other brands despatch records, I believe the Bedford records are fairly comprehensive but suspect that may be a marathon task compared to Land Rovers!

Kind regards
Phil

[Bea]

@jerryd wrote:

Hi Phil,
I note that all the 93 Series 3 conversions are 6 cylinder models, my dormobile is a 1976 model and was a 2.1/4 four cylinder with factory fitted winch when it went to Martin Walter for conversion 😕

Were any chassis numbers available from these factory records ?? or is it just numbers ?? Maybe it should be 94 Series 3 Models converted 🙂

Hi,

Probably 94 or 95 maybe anything upto 100, when I did my research I stopped looking as at Feb 1975 as there were no Land Rover factory despatches that I could find to Martin Walter after Jan 1974. I am aware of a couple of 3s that were converted after that date having been delivered by their owners to Folkestone and I suspect a few more like yours were converted to order but ‘mass’ production in my humble opinion ceased in Jan 74.

The detail available from the factory records is the Label, Vehicle No,In to build date, Out to despatch date, Colour, and where it was despatched to, hence for example mine is:

145 26200*** 20-Oct-61 25-Oct-61 Lt Green Martin Walter Folkestone

Kind regards
Phil.

[Bea]

@MrJones wrote:

Thank’s Phil for this information, very interesting .
I am surprised there is not , on this list , more Home chassis , can you explain this fact ?
Michel

Hi Michel,
No I cannot as John says above it is simply that Dormobiles were built on Export Chassis not Home Market Chassis,I am not sure what differences there are between the chassis, I could not see a noticeable difference when I rebuilt mine!

Kind regards
Phil

[MrJones]

It’s correct Phil ,I verifie , mine is an export model serie2 SW , the number beguin by 351 , anyway it’s initialy an English car exported some years after in France
It would be interesting to collect here the différent numbers of all the Dormobile Land Rover
Michel

[ludo]

thanx bea ..so interresting!!! 😉

so..my series IIA is 1 of 26 made in LHD export diesel!!! Cool! 8)

this evening, thanks to you, i can say to my wife “Darling, we have a treasure in the garden!!”

[ant]

Very interesting thread. Thanks for the info Bea. I think the main reason for Dormobiles being built on export chassis was to escape the dreaded Purchase Tax. This made a 109 station-wagon way too expensive to compete on the home market. Possibly there was a loophole allowing a motor-caravan to escape the tax once converted. However there was also a scheme at the time, whereby if you exported the vehicle within 3 months and kept it out of the country for a year, you could buy it tax-free. As most travelling was by sea at the time, and the car was counted in the free luggage allowance, this was obviously very popular. My father bought a new Vauxhall Cresta like this when we moved from New Zealand to Rhodesia in 1956.

My old 2A 6cyl Dormobile was export RHD (probably tax-free) and left in Bern by a diplomat, where it was converted to LHD. It was possible at the time for Swiss citizens to receive a subsidy for a 4WD vehicle, providing they undertook to bring it when doing their military service. Mine must have been the only Dormobile to be conscripted!

Cheers
Ant

[Jabbawocky]

Hi all

I thought Martin Walters chose the export model because the export model was not fitted with the tropical roof? Export models were fitted with the standard roof for some reason?

I cannot remember where I heard this, but as I have talked Land Rover continuously for the last twelve years, I’m not surprised.

Mick

[Phil Perfect]

This thread is very interesting indeed.
If only the same kind of record exist for Bedford…. 🙄
One question though : Does anybody know if MW made some conversions on “2nd hand” vehicles, I mean not direct from the factory.
This will imply that production may be in greater number.

[jkhackney]

Phil,
I’m interested whether the NADA’s are included in the list?

And, thanks again for the information about mine that you gave me a few years ago.

-Jeremy

[MartynA]

Hi knowledgable Dormobile people,

I now own a 1967 Landy Dormobile that has been off the road since 2008. Just wondering if anybody knows of it. It is from the Helston area and registered BFO 994E. In green and moss with added rust and some later Landy parts.

I also have the chassis number if anyone is able to get info from that but not sure if it is safe to put it on here.

Thanks for your help,

Martyn

[ludo]

@Bea wrote:

Sorry all have’nt been around much lately so not seen this thread until now, not sure where your ‘knowledgeable and reliable source’ got their information from Marc but from the Land Rover Factory records at Gaydon I postulate:

Series 2
RH Drive Export Chassis Petrol x 29
LH Drive Export Chassis Petrol x 2

Series 2A
RH Drive Home Chassis Petrol x 1
RH Drive Export Chassis Petrol x 264
LH Drive Export Chassis Petrol x 143
RH Drive Export Chassis Diesel x 38
LH Drive Export Chassis Diesel x 26
RH Drive Export Chassis 2.6 6 Cyl x 220
LH Drive Export Chassis 2.6 6 Cyl x 6

Series 3
RH Drive Export Chassis 2.6 6 Cyl x 89
LH Drive Export Chassis 2.6 6 Cyl x 4

So 822 Land Rover Dormobiles in total, 729 Series 2s and 93 Series 3s.

These are the Land Rovers that are documented as being despatched to Martin Walter Ltd, this is the best indication we have of Dormobile Production in the absence of the Folkestone Factory records.

Kind regards
Phil

So, in France, near my home, i found one of the 26 series 2A LHD Diesel & one of the 4 series 3 LHD produced!!! Excellent!! 8)

i was sure that the set of seats that i found was rare.. velvet (velours in french), brown… i only see the same on VW Dormobile 😉

ludo

[TopTaff]

So, in conclusion – do we think that the original “How many dormobiles ever built” is question that’s basically unanswerable? 🙂

[Jabbawocky]

I don’t think we will ever get an exact number. Personally, I’m more interested in how many are actually still on the road and being used. At events there are normally only one or two Dormobiles. We are normally outnumbered by Carawagons 😕

[jkhackney]

Mick we’re considering attending the S2 International this year ! I think the Dormobile’s up to the task but I don’t know if I want to sit in a car that long!

I dunno, I think at one point our “community” counted at least 50 LR Dormobiles on the road, through the various forums, clubs, email lists … Land Rover’s creative statistics predict 2/3 of the original number should be on the road, so 600 or more ? 🙄

Jeremy

[Jabbawocky]

Hi Jeremy

Mick we’re considering attending the S2 International this year ! I think the Dormobile’s up to the task but I don’t know if I want to sit in a car that long!

Stop been such a softy. It’s not that far from Switzerland. The trick is to go on the motorway up the eastern side of France as it is not the most exciting bit of countryside and best to get that bit out of the way as quickly as possible. Saying that, the bit from Dover to Norfolk isn’t much better! You need to plan a detour to Yorkshire and come and see the best bit of England.

Keep us informed.

All the best

Mick

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