new bloke needs advice!

[keithanderson]

Hello Everybody my name is Keith I live in the Essex area and I,m looking for a dormobile but I need a bit of guidance about which one to go for I want to spend between 3 and 4 grand and the current short list is ;Bedford CA, Ford Thames 400e ,Transit mk1 or Commer pb. I want it to be pre ’72 for the free tax i’m leaning towards the CA at the moment as I like the style and the sliding doors, the Thames seem to be a bit of a rarity and quite rust prone but I know the 1700 zephyr engine well and am handy with a welder although I think a good one of these would be out of my price range,I also like the sliding door transit and I recently sold my V4 corsair so I still have a load of engine spares which would come in handy, I don’t know much about the Commer but I’m a BT engineer and we used to have them on our fleet about 25 or so years ago but I never had one but everybody who did drive one seems to deride them a bit although by that time they were Dodge and probably at the end of their working lives.So there you have it ,Is 3-4 thousand quid enough to bag a half decent example of any of the above? there are no price guides for any of these so I’m relying on you good people to give me some pointers,I’ve joined the classic campers club forum as well so I’ll be asking them the same questions and hopefully I’ll be mobile before the summer is over!

Cheers Keith.

[Jabbawocky]

Hi Keith

Sorry, I cannot help on your van question, but I can highly recommend the Land Rover version.

Here is our Dormobile

On hill behind our house

In Littondale here in the Yorkshire Dales.

On last years family holiday in the Moroccan Sahara

Cheers Mick

[ant]

Hi Keith

Welcome to the forum. Don’t let Mick brainwash you with Land Rover propaganda and his pictures of Scarborough beach! I’m afraid my Dormobile is also a Land Rover, but as a young teacher in the late 60s/ early 70s, I got to drive school sports teams all over the country in most of the minibuses on the market! The CA was as nice to drive as the Commer was lousy – but by far the best was the Transit, with car-like levels of performance and handling. I’d strongly recommend it, if you can find one, especially with your knowledge of the V4 engine. It’s probably the easiest to find spares for too.

All the best, and good luck,
Tony

[jkhackney]

Hi Keith,
I’ve seen “very good condition” CA’s and Debonairs advertised within the last year in your price range on a classic caravan forum, this forum, and ebay, but I don’t know their true condition. Land Rovers cost more; there are some exceptions but usually a £3-4k Land Rover Dormobile is a project a few years away from usefulness.

I like the CA and Commer but gave up the thought because of the small power/weight ratio. My 2.6L Land Rover is barely able to hold its own on our hills.

Good luck,
Jeremy

[Phil Perfect]

@jkhackney wrote:

the small power/weight ratio.

🙄
My CA went up and down in Wales without any problem… but I think that its 4 speed gearbox is mandatory.
OK Wales is definitely not Swizerland

[michelji]

😀 et en polus les CA et Debonnairs sont magnifiquesc 😉

[Author]

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