A motorhome with a sauna? As unveiled by German motorhome manufacturer Eura Mobil.

Europe’s biggest caravan and motorhome exhibition venue? Birmingham’s NEC doesn’t come close, I’m afraid. It’s in Germany. Dusseldorf, to be exact. Caravan Salon takes place every year here (it used to be in nearby Essen), and this year celebrated its 50th anniversary.

And I was there. It was something of a flying visit. I was testing a Reimo Sport Camper (from Kent-based Concept Multi-Car, but actually straight off their hire fleet).

Davan Caravans have been in business since 1936. And it is still in the same family too!

I dropped in on a caravan and motorhome dealership that’s been in business since 1936.

Davan Caravans at Weston-super-Mare began by building caravans and selling them from the front of their house. Soon the business began to thrive and since the mid 1970’s Davan have sold only other caravan manufacturers’ models, such as Swift and Lunar. In fact, Davan can claim to have been selling Swifts from 1965 and Lunars from late 1969! It is a rare thing these days for companies to have stayed the course and also be run by the founder’s family.

The classic Sprite Countryman caravan is now a rare find. It took me 4 hours to get to it!

It’s very rare that while I am away I don’t come across a classic caravan, but one such caravan I found just a few miles from the Broadway Caravan Club site where we were staying was of particular interest. A rare model from around 1962.

Driving along the A46 I glanced across the fields and half a mile from the road I spotted the distinctive profile of a rare Sprite Countryman caravan. This was a 17ft length family caravan complete with rear door and a side door entrance too. Once a popular tourer and holiday caravan the Sprite Countryman is now as rare as hens teeth!

"Say it with flowers" from this Lynton Scimitar classic caravan in Cheltenham

On a recent trip out to Cheltenham, I came across a flower seller by the road, using a 1979 Lynton Scimitar as his little shop. I managed to take a quick picture (and get a bunch of flowers for Mrs J). Apparently the owner had several people take a picture of his Lynton flower shop caravan!

Being a caravan historian I am always keeping an eye out for any vintage caravans.