This '61 Bedford Dormobile Camper Is a Gorgeous Time Capsule

The Dormobile name might not ring familiar to you, and that's probably because it's more of a regional icon, having started out in the UK and then spread across Europe. In recent years, its cult following has been growing, though its popularity within the owners community never floundered.

Dormobile Campers don't emerge on the market for sale every other day, let alone one in such good condition, so this makes for a very special occasion. This 1961 Bedford Dormobile Camper is up for sale from the Netherlands, with two more days to go into the auction as of the time of writing. The current bid is at €10,000, or $10,800 at the current exchange rate, but reserve hasn't been met.

Assuming you're not exactly on the market for a new RV, even one as old and gorgeous as this one, the auction is still an excellent opportunity for window shopping. Because this particular RV is in such fine condition, having been restored by an enthusiast a few years ago, it's a time capsule of the most delicious kind, offering a look at what constituted attainable luxury back in the day.

Despite the fact that it's now considered an RV, the Dormobile, aka the Dormitory on Wheels, was, in fact, a conversion. It was the brainchild of former carriage builder Martin Walter, who started toying with the idea of a family vacation vehicle as early as 1933 when he built the "Wingham" Vauxhall, which transformed from a closed saloon into an open-top tourer.

1935 marked the introduction of the Dormatic seats, which could recline all the way back and thus double as adult-sized beds. Martin Walter used them to transform the interior of a daily driver into a family sleeper, thus taking that final step to attain his goal of delivering a vehicle that was attainable luxury. The first Dormobile came out in 1952 and was based on a Bedford CA van, spurring a nationwide love for traveling.

The Dormobile proved such a success that, within years, Walter was making hundreds of such conversions using a variety of vehicles as base, from Volkswagen and Vauxhall/Bedford to BMC, Land-Rover, Toyota, and Ford – first without the opening roof, and as of 1957, with that option. Customers could also opt for a standard layout or get a fully custom one, according to their family needs and, of course, the size of their budget.

Dormobile conversions stayed in production until well into the late '80s, when demand dwindled, and the factory was forced to shut down. As we noted in a previous story, the company was sold off and reopened in 1994 and it's still doing business building Dormobiles and, perhaps more relevant to our current topic, catering to old customers with maintenance and replacement parts.

The highest selling point of the Dormobile was the capacity for sleeping and feeding the entire family in a vehicle that was still close to the dimensions of a passenger car. The Bedford CA van was preferred for the conversion because it was a commercial vehicle with plenty of space and with a simple and reliable motor.

This '61 unit is a good representation of the most popular spec of the Dormobile. With its roof popped open and the tent deployed, it could sleep four people in total, though it was ideal if the two sleeping "upstairs" were kids. It has two fold-down bunk beds in the tent and two more beds in the cabin when you roll down the seats.

The unit also has a full kitchen at the rear, with kitchen blocks on both sides. Owners at the time also opted to have a removable dining table that isn't present here, but that's one detail that can be easily added while still keeping to the retro vibe of the vehicle. Amenities include a sink with running water, a (modern) cooler box hidden in one of the cabinets, and a removable stove for cooking, as well as plenty of storage and some space to move around.

Another good thing about the opening roof is that it created standing height, so using the kitchen in camp mode was easy. That's no small feat, either: remember, this was a family vehicle, so it would be holding at least one kid that the mother – in perfect hair and makeup, ofc – had to cook for.

This '61 unit comes with 7,861 miles (12,651 km) on the clock, a 1,600cc 4-cylinder engine, sliding doors on both sides, and exquisite styling in burgundy with black for the exterior, and cream and gray for the interior. The listing notes that the interior is fully functional and that the vehicle is in running condition. It also says that the interior shows only "light" signs of use, and there's some light corrosion on the underside, both of which are noticeable in the photos in the gallery.

The Dormobile was able to hold on to its crown of king of the road for more than three decades, and it remains popular with lovers of classic campers. Looking at this particular unit, it's not difficult to understand why it was such a success, though seeing it as any type of luxury product (attainable or not) might be harder to do.