Ford Model T campervan: The oldest campervan in the world?

A 1914 Ford Model T campervan is to go to auction later this month and is estimated to sell for £20,000–£30,000.

Offered through Bonhams in the Beaulieu Sale on September 10, the Model T campervan is claimed to be the oldest known motor caravan in the world.

The unique, timber-bodied construction was built by Dunton of Reading for the Bentalls, the family behind the British department store chain.

Finished shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, the Motor Caravan sits on an extended and strengthened Model T chassis.

The Bentalls are thought to have sold the T in the 1920s, after which it was abandoned, only rediscovered and restored in the 1970s.

Much of the original timber was reused, and by 1976 it was ready for the HCVC London-Brighton Run – at which it won seven awards, including the concours.

It’s been used on the run several times since, and has been displayed at several other shows and events, even making TV appearances.

A review in Which Motorcaravan magazine in December 1987 – now 35 years ago, or a third of the van’s life – called the quality and workmanship “superb in every way”, with a “volume of storage space” unmatched by modern designs.

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