Thought it would be interesting - my dad in 1978 when he bought the van I now own visited a showroom on Broadway in Cardiff and had the following alternatives. If you want to add the in period adverts for van that were alternatives to VW's please feel free.
I love the advert for the Leyland van... " ...it could save you an extra £40 to £80 on fuel alone for every 20,000 miles you drive" You can save almost that much these days by choosing to fill up at the supermarket rather than the motorway services
Recently came across a website that has scanned brochures of literally thousands of cars/vans/ manufacturers - I love this one.
My first camper aged early twenties was one of these. Mine was matt black after I rivet/filler repaired the arches and that was the only paint I could get for free. I achieved ownership swapping it for a bag of weed. I thought it was cool because even though it was a wreck it was a chick magnet. A sort of camper with curtains, a loose chest of draws and ( @snotty ) a futon coz I was kewl. Looking back it was definitely a wreck and the futon was a mistake. To go faster than 45mph you had to grit your teeth push through the violent vibrations from out of balance prop shaft. Happy days of ignorance. One damp November evening it was spluttering, I opened the bonnet (though in those days that was more in hope than expectation of having clue) and the HT voltage was tracking down the outsides of the filthy oil muck and wet encrusted HT leads providing a lovely light show. That was possibly the first time I fixed a running problem.
When my dad bought one of these in the early 60s: My uncle bought one of these: We used to all go camping during the summer. I always preferred the look of uncle’s Bedford.
Corsair engine ? The lad I once knew put the v6 engine in, And changed the front grille panel and bonnet for the same one as they had on the York diesel transit
That towel has taken me back. The one the guy standing behind the Bedford Dormobile has draped over his arm. We definitely had an identical one when I was a child. I can remember sitting on it at the beach, probably Swanage. Its not me holding the beach ball, but the other child could be my sister. I think there's something the family aren't telling me...
