CARRY ON CAMPING – IN A 1961 COMMER ‘MAIDSTONE’

The year is 1961 and, somewhere in Hampshire, a family is en route to their summer holiday near Swanage. Dad is ranting about those Ton-up boys, Mum dreams of Laurence Harvey, their daughter reads about John Leyton in Mirabelle magazine, while son plots his way to owning a Corgi model of the Citroën DS19. Meanwhile, the A36 may be plagued with traffic jams and overheating Ford Consuls, but at least the family are snugly seated in one of the country’s finest camper vans.

Sixty years later, Scott is the proud owner of a Commer ‘Maidstone’ whose condition is so original that it “…even has the gas lights in the back, enamel stove and pop-top. It was bought new by a Mr Forget in Stocksbridge, and he owned it for over 40 years. His family learnt to drive in it, and it was a massive part of their family.”

Commer introduced the 1500 FC ‘Spacevan’ in 1960 as the replacement for their Express. The forward-control body was one prominent sales feature, as was the independent front suspension, even if some operators grumbled about the 1,494cc Audax-series Hillman Minx engine’s lack of performance. The choice of 16 bodies for the FC included a “High Top Van”, a 14-seater “Contractor’s Bus”, a “Bottle Float” and a camper with a name derived from the early demonstration models.

Scott explains that the Rootes Group “…took minibuses (hence the factory windows) and converted them at their factory in Maidstone”. One advertisement urged prospective buyers to be “…foot-loose and fancy-free in this completely self-contained 4-berth caravan”. Scott remarks that in-house production lasted for only a year or two and then stopped when conversion companies started building their own versions. He added: “Most companies used panel vans rather than the minibuses as they were cheaper to buy.”

From 1961 the Series 2 offered a 1.6-litre petrol engine as standard and two years later Autocar tested the Maidstone “Four Berth De Luxe”. They found it a “very well-planned motor caravan” for £927 and, just as important, it could be “…driven quite fast over really rough tracks, without the risk of smashing crockery”. Extras included an Elsan toilet and curtain for £11 11s (the glamour of it all), a gas refrigerator for £39 17s 3d and, for those typical British Augusts, a rear compartment heater for £19 2s 6d.

The interior fittings of the Scott’s Commer include “…loads of cupboards and bunk beds. I’ve fitted a solar panel for off-grid electric on a suitcase on the roof rack”. As for the accommodation: ‘It’s really ingenious; I’m 6ft 5 ins tall and sleep comfortably in it”. He is unsure how many Maidstones are still in use: “I think there’s only about four or five left, and this one is apparently is seen as the most original.”

The last of the Spacevans left the factory in 1983, and today an immaculate ‘Maidstone’ naturally attracts a great deal of attention. “Everyone loves it, and I think because they were everyday vans. The number of people that stop you and say, ‘my dad had one’, is quite incredible. I love driving the Commer, and we use it now as our family camper.”

And last year, the Maidstone was reunited with the widow of its original owner. It now goes by the nom-de-Commer of ‘Nora’ in her honour. Such campers are vital examples of motoring history, not just for their design or rarity but because they form part of so many families’ narratives. Long may that continue.

With Thanks To Scott.

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