VINTAGE ’VANS
Expert advice on buying and running an older motorhome
A look back at the early years of Auto-Sleepers
THIS MONTH Martin looks back at 60 years of Auto-Sleepers
When I first discovered Auto-Sleeper motorhomes in the early 1970s, the Worcestershire-based company was a little over a decade old and had just begun to carry out conversions on the Bedford CF, after concentrating solely on the Rootes/ Chrysler Commer during the 60s. Little could I have imagined a point in the future when I would be writing for MMM in celebration of Auto-Sleepers’ sixtieth anniversary!
The achievement of 60 years of building motorhomes and campervans is worthy of celebration. What is so remarkable about the story is that this was one of the minnows of the UK motorhome industry during its infancy, with the likes of Martin Walter Ltd (Dormobile), Ci/Autohomes and Devon Conversions the major players at that time.
But here we are, 60 years after its formation, and it is still producing quality models from the Willersey base, despite takeovers and a disastrous factory fire.
Both the Dormobile and Ci/Autohomes’ huge premises have long since been demolished, but that once onion field in Worcestershire is still home to a great brand.
To say that Auto-Sleepers was a tad conservative with its models at the outset would be an understatement, but that approach paid off, as it slowly and surely built a base of loyal customers, and a reputation for quality, handmade models on the Commer van. Staying loyal to the van, even when it became the Dodge Spacevan in the mid-70s and was a bit long in the tooth in comparison with other base vehicles, it continued to offer Dodge examples until its demise in the early 80s.
That Commer Auto-Sleeper interior layout was carried forward to the ‘new’ Bedford CF in 1969, the Ford Transit and, with some revisions, to the Leyland Sherpa when it was introduced in 1975.
The company resisted adding a coachbuilt to its line-up until the introduction of the Auto-Sleeper CB22 in 1977. MMM’s founding editor, John Hunt, wrote a great article for the 1993 Auto-Sleeper magazine entitled ‘32 models in 32 years’, a picture of which is featured top left.
From a company with such a conservative approach to new models in its formative years, it became like a converter on steroids once the 1980s dawned. No base vehicle appeared to be off limits, from the ageing Dodge Spacevan to the revamped Bedford CF, the new Renault Trafic and Talbot Express, the Vauxhall/Bedford Midi, VW T25 and even an American Chevrolet.
One of its most significant milestones was the release of the SV100 Bedford CF motorhome, a glass-fibre design, which was striking in appearance, given its contemporaries at that time. The SV100 with a revised internal layout became the Clubman, again on the CF Bedford and later offered on the Talbot Express (Talisman), VWT4 and, with some reconfiguration, the Ford Transit as the Legend model.
That glass-fibre monocoque motorhome was a huge success and became a staple of campsites around the UK and Europe throughout the 80s and 90s.
I will bring the ‘classic’ Auto-Sleepers’ era story up to date in the next issue.