Tiny trailer meets 50s spaceship

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.”

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.

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

restoring the floor

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

window seat

Thanks Peter for sharing your adventure!

dining table

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