Buying Bertie

In May this year we decided to buy a camper van. We had owned an old VW camper about 15 years ago, but wanted something a little more luxurious this time. To start with we decided to buy something old and inexpensive to see how we got along with it – would we use it often enough to make it worth while; would we enjoy this sort of camping; would it prove too expensive to run? If we discover that we use a campervan a lot and enjoy it, we will buy a newer and more expensive model in a few years time.

As experienced campers, with grown up sons and aging limbs, we felt that it would be nice to have a vehicle that arrived ready to live in. Camping with a tent had become too much work and too much packing, and I particularly found it difficult to get comfortable enough for a good night's sleep in a tent. We prefer to own a small car as we do not need to use it very much, and do not often travel long distances, so towing a caravan was not an option. I have never particularly fancied towing anyway.

After a bit of research we decided upon a few criteria:
* a minimum of 4 berth to give us a bit of room
* sufficient headroom to walk around in the vehicle comfortably
* at least one of the front seats to swivel
* kitchen at the back of the van
* hot water, cooking and reasonable storage
* easy access from the driving area to the rest of the van
* easily accessible engine
* seatbelts for a minimum of two rear seat passengers

The vehicle that we kept coming back to was a Talbot Express. They are a little older than we had originally intended to buy but had everything that we wanted, and were top of the range when they first came out. Unfortunately we could not find one for sale near us to go and view. Eventually we decided to take a risk and go for one that was being advertised on ebay by a dealer in Staines. We travelled down by train one Friday afternoon in May – buying a return ticket just in case. After viewing and a test drive we bought our campervan—or motorhome—and drove it straight back that evening.

We have named our Talbot Express ‘Bertie’. This first journey in him was about 140 miles – a good first run for us. Driving is more physical than in a small, modern car. The gear stick is a long pole, and the van is heavy to manoevre at slow speeds, but buzzes along nicely at 60 mph on the motorway. It was getting dark by the time we reached the Severn crossing toll bridge, so the lights had a try out as well. The engine seems sound and with 95,000 on the clock should have a few miles left in it. The front seats are a bit saggy – but nothing that a cushion couldn't cure. The interior is in good condition for its age and clean.

Four out of six fuses and covers were missing, so this was the first thing to sort out. With a bit of improvisation we were able to use the caps off fuse holders and springs out of pens to get the electrics working. We bought a refill gas cannister. By the end of the week we had everything working except the fridge:

* hot water geyser with the gas
* water pump
* air conditioning on electric / heating on gas
* the cooker – two hobs, a grill and an oven
* cooker fan
* battery and water level indicator
* interior lights

The fridge is supposed to work off the leisure battery, the gas, and mains hookup. We could not get it to work at all, but found when we arrived at our first site that it does work off mains hookup. So this is something we shall have to sort out. Bertie has a shower cubicle and a large wardrobe, plus quite a number of other cupboards.

We were ready to start our adventures.