Unicorns don’t exist, but if they did, they would have a lot of things in common with the Laverda Paguro. At the very least, they’d share a similarity in how rarely they’re spotted.
Back in the late ‘70s, Italian company Laverda made the Paguro camper. The Paguro was based on the Citroën Acadiene small commercial vehicle, which was itself derived from the Dyane. Produced between 1977 to 1987, no one knows how many of the 250K+ units produced were turned into Paguro campers, but they were popular enough to launch a die-cast toy.
The fact is that these days, Paguros are very rare to spot. Only a few surviving examples are believed to exist still, and many of them are in dire need of restoring and reconditioning. This was one of them: a 1980 model emerged for sale on Benzin earlier this month and has already found an owner willing to invest extra time and money into the project.
The Paguro was a camper that stood out for the incredible amount of space it provided (“incredible” is a relative term) and the bright blue color. This particular low-mileage item still came with many original parts and a recent coat of paint that matched the original. It would start and had a functioning electrical system, but had not been road-tested and was in need of a complete overhaul.
The seller from Italy said the underpinnings were sound but that everything else would have to be inspected and touched up. The interior was the worst: as you can see in the gallery, the Paguro still had the original two-burner stove and the mattress, but the cabin was in poor condition.
Despite needing a lot of work before heading out again, the Paguro sold for €13,100 ($15,845 at the current exchange rate). That’s a lot of money for a car that was famously difficult to handle when loaded—a most unfortunate occurrence for a commercial vehicle. The Acadiene was powered by a 602 cc twin-cylinder engine that developed 31 hp and would cruise on flat land “comfortably and economically” at 55 mph (89 kph).
That said, considering how rare these unicorns Paguros are, it’s probably more of an investment.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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