Tiny trailer meets 50s spaceship

05/28/2009

1950_willerby

Today I’ve fallen in love with this little darling. Sorry Eriba Puck, you’ve just been bumped down a notch on my list of superb vintage European trailers (or caravans, as they say).

It’s a Willerby Vogue, coming out of 1950s UK and so rare that only 5 of them seem to exist today. Isn’t he cute?

I ran across the blog of Pete Jolly, who “rescued [this 1957 caravan] from the depths of deepest Norfolk in August 2006″ by way of eBay as a “winter DIY project.”

1957_willerby

At 14’7″ in length and 1700 lbs, they manufactured 115 of these fiberglass trailers over a period of 2 years and they didn’t sell, nearly running the business into the ground. That appears to be the company’s first and last attempt at high design.

willerby_floorplan1

It took Peter nine months to do a complete restoration of Willerby and resurrect a 20 year slumber.

willerby_floor_beforeafter

restoring the floor

You can read the entire process at http://willerby.littleplumstead.com and extensive photos on Peter’s flickr photostream.

willerby_interiorbench1

window seat

Thanks Peter for sharing your adventure!

willerby_dining

dining table

Photo credit Peter Jolly/flickr. Top photo from Willerby Holiday Homes.

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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Daniel 05/29/2009 at 11:29 am

that’s a nice find. That’s a pretty nice restoration. Looks pretty good for such a tiny space.

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debbie 05/31/2009 at 12:45 pm

How Adorable. It’s my dream to own a tiny little travel trailer..How fun!

Love your blog also..

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Deb Leblanc aka DEBFIT 07/14/2009 at 6:52 am

That is a beautiful little trailer! And I really like the red accents. What a beautiful job, nicely done!

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Deb Leblanc aka DEBFIT 07/14/2009 at 6:53 am

That is a beautiful little trailer! And I really like the red accents. What a wonderful job, nicely done!

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El Beezle 11/30/2009 at 6:59 pm

*sigh

I swoon in love yet again, thanks to your blog… So adorable, Mr. Peter Fellow: you are making us all quite Jolly indeed!

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Noreen 01/28/2010 at 9:49 pm

Love this beautiful tiny trailer. Sparks the wanderlust and adventurous spirit in me.

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BigGoofyGuy 07/02/2010 at 11:11 am

I think they did excellent work on it. It looks really nice. It went from bad to beautiful. :)

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Deanne Dodge 11/07/2010 at 10:26 am

I love this so much! I like all the light that comes from the big windows..excellent work on restoring…I would love to do this!

Deanne

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