One of the most miraculous and most frustrating aspects of a motorhome is the miniaturisation of every functional element and piece of furniture to fit into the dimensions of a relatively small van.
The miracle of this is that a motorhome provides all of the creature comforts of a house whilst on the move without making the van too large and heavy to drive, but the frustration is that it can be difficult to upgrade because every piece of furniture is unique.
Thankfully, customisation can be undertaken thanks to beautiful specialist vinyl wraps that can make your motorhome feel like yours.
Having everything in one van was the result of a happy accident and an argument with the taxman in the 1950s.
Folkestone-based coachbuilders Martin-Walter had developed a speciality in converting Bedford CA vans into minibuses, but Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs insisted that this would turn the van into an estate car, which would force any buyer to pay an additional tax.
After a bit of a stalemate, Martin-Walter came to an agreement where they could sell the converted vans without the additional tax, on the condition that they added what was described as “built-in life support equipment”.
Whilst this sounds more akin to an ambulance, what was meant by this was cooking facilities, a bed, toilet facilities and a sink.
This worked, and it meant that the price for people to buy a motorhome was often close to the price of a new car due to the lack of additional tax.
The result of this was the Dormobile, an ever-familiar sight on British roads for decades, which became so popular that Martin-Walter eventually changed its name to Dormobile.
This created the familiar shape and size of the British motorhome, similar to how Westfalia used the VW Type 2 to create the quintessential campervan, and whilst the company was bought in 1972 and closed in 1994, it reopened under new management and still makes campervans.