I cannot believe I’m saying this, but the camper at the top of your screen right now is not a custom build. Yes, it looks like an Airstream that went to clown school, and, somehow, it was really built to be as flamboyant as possible. This is the Vickers Morecambe, and it’s one of the rarest, weirdest, most ridiculous campers you’ll ever see, with miles of blinding chrome and mirrors inside and outside. It even has a working fireplace just to cap off the craziness.
One of the coolest things about RV history is that, no matter how deep you dig, you will always find something new. RVs have been around for well over a century now, and countless companies have come and gone without leaving even so much of a breadcrumb to trace their history. Yet, just like how some people will preserve one of the sole examples of a car that disappeared decades ago, there are people who keep campers around decades after they’ve become orphans.
This 1950s-era Vickers Morecambe caravan is currently listed at Car & Classic in an auction in the United Kingdom that is likely to have ended by the time that you read this. Normally, a camper like this would be old news to me, because I love writing about rigs that you can buy right now or perhaps find later on. However, the sheer level of crazy cannot be ignored here. Sadly, only a few of these were ever built, anyway, so who knows when you’ll ever see another.
Bombastic By Design
Something that I am extremely fascinated by is the fact that I have found only morsels of information about the Vickers Morecambe. The primary source I’m using for this piece is the Car & Classic listing itself, which isn’t a frequent occurrence for me. Here’s what the listing says:
By all accounts, it could be said that Harry Vickers was a character. Starting off as a Trapeze Artist, the Bolton-born eccentric briefly went into exhibiting himself as the world’s strongest man, sold patent medicines in Lancashire, started getting into chromework and then found a site in Morecambe following the Second World War, which is where he started building his caravans and trailers.
These were the best-of-the-best. A Vickers was a bit like the Rolls-Royce of the Caravan world. They were bigger, roomier, loaded with details and often covered in rich, bright chrome. It was often said that if you could pay for it, the Vickers Caravan Workshop could do it, and to this day one of the legendary Westmorland Caravans is bound to garner plenty of attention. Larger than an Airstream of the same era, it’s really inside these remarkable trailers that true gauche glory comes into play.
Curvy, patterned units and a fireplace sit alongside fully spec’d out stoves and tiled floors, often with frosted and etched glass motifs across the board. It was a very glamorous place to be, and proved remarkably comfortable for travelling showmen who often made it their main home with pride. To this day, it’s a very handsomely specified home-on-wheels.
According to the books, Travellers through Time: A Gypsy History, and Beneath The Blue Sky: 40 Years Of The Gypsy Traveller Life, the caravans of Vickers were considered to be flagship products with no expense spared to make the wildest campers on the planet. The trailers were each custom-built to their owners’ exacting specifications, no matter how bombastic.
These books note that these campers, as well as trailers like the Westmorland Star, the Lunedale, the Bluebird, and the Berkeley, were beloved among wealthier Romany people. Today, if you perform a web search for Vickers caravans and look past the results for articles about this trailer, you’ll find Facebook groups of Romany people adoring these old-school caravans. Click this link and read the comments; you’ll find stories of folks recalling how much of a joy it was to keep these campers all polished up and shiny.
Sadly, I have not found much else about Vickers. The Internet Archive has little information. The earliest Vickers caravans that I’ve found were from the early 1950s, and the latest were from the 1970s. It’s also unclear, at least to me, how many models Vickers was associated with. For example, I’ve seen some people say that the equally vivid Westmorland Caravan is a Harry Vickers creation, but I’ve also seen some people say that the Westmorland was built by someone named Alan Dent.
This 1950s Vickers Morecambe
Sadly, my lack of additional information about Vickers means that the history section of this post will be short. But, good news, that means we can bask in the insanity of the Vickers Morecambe.
The Cars & Classic listing gives us a small story about this trailer:
This fine example requires some chassis repairs and a little bit of restoration work, but the handsome period kitsch is all present and correct, and will no doubt prove a very handsome example when finished. It’s recently been part of a very successful holiday let in a circus-themed barn, has been used repeatedly in filming and for wedding photoshoots, and is now being sold due to much-deserved retirement. We think it’ll be a very viable business for the lucky buyer!
The listing states that, yes, what you’re looking at here is very original. This is not a trailer that someone tacked a bunch of bits onto. Well, I suppose someone did tack a bunch of bits on it, but that happened when it was built back in the 1950s.
The exact year of the trailer is not known, but it is believed to be either in its 70s or close to it. Given its age, it’s amazing that the chrome inside and outside of this trailer is in such great condition, with only light patina. It gets even cooler from there. The listing states that the interior of the trailer is full of intricate glasswork and mirrors. In terms of features, you’re looking at vinyl bench seats, an electrical system, storage spaces, and yep, a tiled fireplace. Apparently, much of this is original, including the lighting.
The seller says that it weighs around three metric tons, or 6,613 pounds, but does not mention anything about length, interior height, or any bathroom facilities. Based on what I could find, a bathroom, or even a kitchen, might be in a different trailer. In that way, this isn’t your typical caravan or travel trailer; it’s supposed to sort of be part of a convoy.
Sadly, the trailer is not in perfect shape. It’s noted that the chassis of the trailer needs repair and that there are corroded elements that should be fixed before the trailer is put into service again. Apparently, the trailer needs this work in part because it has not been moved in a long time.
More Is More
Despite the needed work, I’m going to call this camper a total gem no matter what price it lands on. It’s believed that only a handful of these have survived into the modern day. Thankfully, the Beamish Museum did save one of these, but still, these are so rare that not even I knew that they existed. I have found only two for sale, the camper that you’re reading about right now, and a model from the 1970s that doesn’t have as much chrome as this one has.
As of writing, the 1950s Vickers camper is at £20,000 ($26,971) and will sell today. If you miss out on it, you can pick up the 1970s version that’s also for sale for £16,000 ($21,576). Either of these trailers can be imported to America.
I will be the first to recognize that these trailers won’t be for everyone. I mean, I could not imagine what it would be like to shine a set of headlights on this bad boy. The interior must also get interesting on a sunny day. But you know what? I don’t care, and I’m sure the buyer won’t, either. This camper is absolutely silly, and I love it. RV manufacturers, if you’re reading this, make campers as weird and as fun as a Vickers Morecambe!
Any story arc that starts with Starting off as a Trapeze Artist, has to be good..
Can someone explain why there are tail lights on both ends of this thing? Is that a requirement in UK or something?
Apparently the last name of the original owner for which it was built was Torchinsky. You know how they love their tail lights.
Ahem. 😛
Are we sure this is not a Decepticon in disguise from the Bayformers movies?
The interior is very artistic, but seems like it would be nearly unusable as an actual camper.
She kinda clarified:
This is not a trailer that someone tacked a bunch of bits onto. Well, I suppose someone did tack a bunch of bits on it, but that happened when it was built back in the 1950s.
I loved that line. It made Mercedes sound like she’s been hanging out with Torch too much, but that it affected her in the best of ways.
That was a confusing way to say it was a bespoke build from the factory, not something an amateur threw together in a barn somewhere (like say a modern schoolie bus conversion).
From what I infer here this would put it more akin to say a Duesenburg, where each body was custom made for each client, and as far as I know no two were alike.
These are Romani / Gypsy campers and widely known and used in the UK, they pop up on eBay from time to time as well. Not really rare or strange in that regard.. pretty cool but they all follow this same theme. Every one of them looks like this including fireplaces, mirrors, etc..
IIRC one is featured in The Gentlemen series. Similar interior, probably more modern. Beyond not having a bathroom or kitchen it doesn’t seem to have beds.
Gypsies sleep outside lol I have no idea what I’m talking about
Its a caravan fer mi ma
Periwinkle blue, boys.
If you were parked at the right angle you’d get microwaved in this thing.
Just don’t park in front of the Walkie Talkie building.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_Fenchurch_Street
Yikes, these photos are bad. HDR toning slider turned up way too high in photoshop.
Don’t blame me (lol), I’m way too cheap to use Photoshop. I use GIMP… 🙂
lol yeah I know you didn’t take the photos, but they are hard to look at.
I think you found Liberace’s camper. Waaaaay to tacky for me.
The interior is lovely! The exterior reminds me a little of the Gen 4 Prius, which I liked. One of my aunts used to have a camper van. She lived in cool places during the summer and warm places in winter. A girl can dream…
Do any Romani in the US use caravans like this? It seems quite logical in some ways that they would, is it something that any of you have come across?
Stylistically, it looks like Art Nouveau and Jet-Age got scrambled together in a Star Trek transporter mishap.
Vickers trailers are serious kit. I knew someone who lived in one back in the 90s. Hers was all wood finish and art deco style mirrors inside. It was like living in a fancy tobacconists.
Holy cow – now that you said that, I can’t unsee the interior as “fine cigar shop.” Surely there is a crystal decanter set with a selection of top-shelf whiskeys on or under one of those counters.
That thing is genuinely baroque. I’m not a fan.
I also dislike it when I see cars wrapped in chrome, or even worse gold chrome. They’re usually Teslas of course, but sometimes a Fisker or some other weirdness. It just never looks good IMO.
You can pull this behind your Hummer EV wrapped in Chrome.
Or your mirror polished Cybertruck.
Shiny.
I had to look who this artist is.
Look up Cheryl Kelley
This trailer looks like one of her paintings.
This desperately needs to be towed by a Japanese Dekotora truck.
That thing is wild. I can only imagine how unpleasant this thing would be to look at on a sunny day. I passed a chrome-wrapped Cybertruck a few weeks ago and thought I had permanent retinal damage, though this caravan does at least have those little strips to break up the surface a bit.
While I agree, it couldn’t be any worse than the very worst glare I’ve ever endured behind the wheel: facing east while sitting at a red light in the late afternoon, with a UPS step van across the intersection facing the setting sun. The completely flat glass of its driver’s side windshield was at the perfect angle to reflect 100% of the sun’s light directly at my face like Archimedes’ death ray, UNDER my sun visor.
All I could do was turn my head to the side and wait for the car next to me to move when the light turned green, because I risked blindness by keeping my eyes straight ahead. It was actually painful.
As the owner of a Jeep TJ, I fear I have done that to more than a few folks, as I can often see the intense light focuses on the vehicles ahead of me.
Those cabinets are ten orders of size more beautiful than anything I have ever seen in any AirBnB in the world.
Can you guys buy this and make Adrian live in it for a month?
He’d burn when exposed to the light.
A traveling family would have had three or four of these. This is a day van, no kitchen and certainally no bathroom. The kitchen van would be the same size and glitz in the dinig area. Then the sleeping one, slightly smaller and just one big bedroom with a bath and handbasin room and a dressing room. The toilets were in an undecorated wooden trailer or dug at each stop.
This was definitley the head of the families set up, the kids had there own setup. A sure fire way to fall out with it’s owner would be to step foot in it wearing shoes.
A rare thing, most were burnt to ashes on the death of their owner.
That is fascinating to think of such a convoy rolling down the highway. I would love to read a Mercedes article breaking this type of RVing down. Thanks for this insight!
You can absolutely still see that here sometimes in the UK. A few travellers and showmen still rock them.
I dont think they were Rving, this was home, just moving. The family that I knew pulled these behind a variety of Rolls and Bentleys, the kids would turn up later in barrel sided varras, horse drawn and looking like something out of a history book.
I had a pub which was a converted watermill in the south of England, big place with water meadows (and Roman watercress beds). One of the meadows was called Gypsy Meadow. Once a year these folk would start rolling in, the big shiny ones first, then the varras, then the stragglers, old vans and pick up trucks ( the English sort) and set up camp.
There was dog racing, pony rides for the kids who came to the pub, alongside re-pointing, fixing fences, roof maintanence, hedging, ditch clearing and all sorts.
Then they would be gone, the meadow just as it was, but tidier, with the inevitable dead van left.
The town grew out to me, the roads got widened and one year they did not come. In the early 1980’s I watched the end of something that was probably as old as the watercress beds.
thanks for more info, thats a cool story! And yea RVing is not really the right term. I was wondering what the tow vehicles were so thanks for that as well. I do like how the area was actually left nicer when they left. In America, it would undoubtedly be an absolute mess afterward…
Great description, thanks!
That answered a lot of questions, thanks. I imagine the same sort of division when they were horse drawn?
I guess so, I wish I had asked more questions then. I was the posh landowner, with no right to ask.
To save typing this twice there is a tale about the tidyness.
This was on the outskirts of a village in Hampshire, the rural bits had been going for years (decades really). I knew that by doing the pub thing I was not helping to preserve an ancient bucolic life. One day, after the Gypsies had left (yes that is who they were) I set up some cameras to try to photograph the barn owls who found flattened meadow a perfect hunting ground.
I did get some rather blurred pictures of the owls. I also got some very clear images of the new chairman of the Parish Council emptying his Volvo estate full of household crap on my field.
The court case was fun, let us say his position as the magistrate prosecuting me and the unfindable travelling people did not go as he had planned.
Classic! I think there has been an effort to better portray Gypsies in media better. “leaving the space better than found” for example is something I’ve seen.
For a minute there, I thought this was going to be a bizarre side project of Vickers aircraft & shipbuilding, the way North American Rockwell got into building houseboats, but clearly unrelated unless through a family tree connection somewhere along the line
I wonder if this helps the person behind you turn off their high beams.
Any Emergency Services driving by will accidentally trigger the revival of Disco.
To be honest, if I was in the back of the ambulance passing that thing, I wouldn’t mine “Stayin’ Alive” as an ear worm.
They already do that simply by existing. I have commented here before how I can’t believe it’s legal to have such a dangerous portable rave light show parked on the side of the road in the dark. Beyond a certain point, increased visibility becomes a risk of night blindness.
I mean, this isn’t safe, if it is searing my retinas to the point that I actually have to look away as I drive past: https://media.tenor.com/0dW5YNbqh8QAAAAM/%D0%B0%D0%B0%D0%B0%D0%B0.gif
Make “gumball machines” standard cop equipment again.
But that’ll increase the number of Gumball Rallies!
The roof is giving me Klingon vibes. DuHjaj raQDaq!
I wonder if the original owner spent the extra dough for the cloaking device?
Hard to believe this is real. It has that same aura of unreality that generative AI images do.
I was thinking that too! It’s because of all the reflections making the lines seem not quite straight, I think a little bit of HDR effect put on the photos, and most importantly the ‘tail lights’ on the front; putting the tail lights on the wrong side is absolutely something you’d see in a bad AI image.
Jason saw all the tail lights and indicators and went into shock.