If you’re going on holiday, what better way to travel than with a pre-war motorhome (in different parts of the world otherwise known as RV, Motor-caravan, camper or Reisemobil). Although there were earlier attempts at building a motorhome, in the UK it really started when the Riley family, Bill sr. and Bill jr., took over the Eccles Motor Transport Co. just after the Great War. Gradually they phased out the transport business and in the early 1920s they began to built towing caravans and motorhomes. The latter were mostly one-offs, built according to the customers wishes. They could be supplied on a wide variety of chassis, for example Ford, Bedford, Albion, AEC, or as in this picture, on a Morris. These motorhomes were very complete, with beds, seats, tables, washbasins and even toilets. Quite a number were built by Eccles before World War II, although no production numbers are known. After the war no more motorhomes were built by Eccles.

August 13, 2006