Bedford CA Dormobile (1952 – 69)
Bedford Vehicles was established in 1931 as a part of Vauxhall Motors, itself a part of General Motors after 1925. The company became a leading European manufacturer of light, medium, and heavy-duty lorries.
The firm introduced the CA, its most popular light-duty vehicle, in 1952. It remained in production through 1969. The CA shared its powertrain with the Vauxhall Victor – a simple, robust, and easy-to-service 50-hp, 1,500-cc inline four-cylinder engine. Thanks to its passenger car roots and versatile design, the chassis was popular for aftermarket camper conversions. A pioneer in that field was Martin-Walter – a centuries-old harness maker, coachbuilder, and military vehicle manufacturer – best known for its Dormobile caravan.
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The first Bedford CA based Dormobile motorhome, complete with a gas stove, a sink and cupboards and seats which converted into beds, appeared in 1957. The elevating roof, hinged on one side and featuring a red and white striped canopy, was quickly evolved in order to make it possible to stand within the vehicle. The campervan idea originated as a compromise negotiated with the UK tax office. Earlier in the 1950s, the manufacturers specialised in converting the Bedford CA van into a mini-bus, featuring extra side windows and seats. The UK tax authorities asserted that the converted vehicle was effectively a form of estate car, and therefore its retail price should bear passenger car purchase tax, a burden from which buyers of vans were spared. However, the manufacturers negotiated an agreement whereby Dormobile converted vans could be sold without purchase tax, provided they incorporated “built-in life support equipment” such as a cooking device, and facilities for the washing and storage of clothes. These stipulations triggered a move away from minibus conversions to motorhome conversions, which carved out a substantial new life-style market as the ensuing decade saw a substantial increase in disposable incomes in the UK.
The company subsequently converted a number of different van-based vehicles to other uses, including minibuses and ambulances, before collapsing in the mid-1990s.
The novelist Anthony Burgess and his wife, Liana, owned one and used it as a home and means of travelling throughout Western Europe in the late 1960s. Burgess described the Bedford Dormobile as “A miracle of British design, although much let down by slipshod British execution – screws missing, bad wood-planing …”
