Running like a dream 80 years on, Britain’s very first motor home (yours for £40,000)
HOW heads must have turned eight decades ago when Captain Francis Scrivens Dunn toured the countryside in his camper van.
Built in 19 6 on a Pontiac Six chassis from the US and boasting a mahogany interior, fitted kitchen and pullout double bed, the vehicle is thought to have been Britain’s first motorhome.
And, with less than 10,000 miles on the clock, it still ‘drives like a dream’ says the man who is reluctantly selling this elegant piece of history.
Crafted by Russell’s Coachworks of Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, the pioneering creation – preserved right down to the tin of Oxo in the cupboard and tea urn in the kitchen – is expected to fetch £40,000 at Bonhams’ Goodwood Revival auction next month.
Captain Dunn, from Bexhill, made good use of his motorhome, as proved by four photo albums being sold as part of the lot that illustrate his travels through southern England in the late 19 0s.
Even when paralysed after contracting polio while on honeymoon he still took to the road, setting his wheelchair alongside as his wife took the wheel.
Captain Dunn’s disability meant he
‘Incredibly ahead of his time’
was evacuated to Wales during the Second World War and the motorhome was almost requisi- tioned as a makeshift ambulance, even being splashed with green paint by way of camouflage.
The captain died in 1946 and, although the vehicle went into storage, his widow would turn the engine over every few months, until she died in 1991.
The camper van, which also has a rudimentary lavatory, was bought by Ron Saunders, who displayed it at his caravan dealership in Poole, Dorset, and took it to motor shows.
It is now being sold by his son, Andy, who lovingly restored it. He said: ‘Captain Dunn was incredibly ahead of his time when you look at some of the amenities included within the vehicle. It’s a magnificent vehicle and I’ll be terribly sad to see it go. Not only is it absolutely beautiful but it also drives like a dream.’ Have you got an older camper van than Captain Dunn’s? Email campervan@dailymail.co.uk.