What's Your Story

[Panky]

We had a Commer a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away....sorry different story - but we had a white '72 PB that had a home made interior made out of 1" block-board. It weighed a ton but it was our only vehicle and we travelled extensively in it - me Barb two kids and the cat. When we moved house (and got a mortgage) it was just too expensive to run so it had to go, the replacement was.......a Peugeot 104:I small and economical[V]
I always hankered after another van and it was several years later when we started looking again, even then Commers where quite thin on the ground and then along came Harvey, he was MOT'd and taxed (before historic class came out) and I wanted him. We paid £650 for him at the time but although a lot of work had been done in the previous few years there was still plenty to do - and I'm still doing it:I But I love him:I

Harvey back in the day[^]

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[admin]

Went camping Easter 2005 and a friend turned up in a camper; while we were wrestling with tents, bedding etc he just put the hand brake on and made us all a cuppa.. I wanted a piece of that action!

We got home and I remembered an email froma friend who was selling a camper (I recalled it being Russian for some reason) as he was emigrating to teach English in South America for some time.

Went to Plymouth and a deal was struck

 

[renaultvation]

My parents bought our Commer Wanderer in the spring of 1968 when it was 6 months old. Apparently we got a very good trade in for our 1967 HB Viva because Vauxhall were on strike and no new cars were were available.

We were a family of five and used to spend weeks at a time exploring the country. At first we all slept in the Commer, but as we children grew, we bought a tent which my parents adapted to fit on the back of the van.

Even then, Commers were much rarer than the darkside, but that had its advantages. We were staying on a site in the Yorkshire Dales and received a letter addressed to 'Yellow Commer, somewhere near Grassington, Yorkshire'. The postman found us the next day in Arncliffe! [:0]

My Dad got a new job at the end of 1971 with a long commute, so as our only vehicle the Commer had to go. [V] My parents have had a number of vans since and now have a modern motorhome, but nothing compares to that original Commer. [^]

'I intend to live forever - so far, so good'

 

[Comm - Don]

Again - I have my Parents to blame too. When i was 5 or 6 my dad used to have a Parafin round to earn extra money as there were 4 kids to feed and only one income. He had a red Commer panel van with a tank of fuel inside. He used to take me with him on the occasion and i loved sitting so high up on the grown up seat HAHAHA! Then a few years later he brought an Autosleeper and we went all over Wales in it for Holidays. I have vivid memories of my Mum buttering up sarnies for us in the back whilst my brother and i played frisbie on the Brecon Beacons;-)

That's kind of it as regards to any story as such. It was moreover my childhood memories that made me start tapping into the internet for any info on them. Duke cropped up and the rest you all know;-)

P.S, my dad is still trying to find old piccies of the van. I hope it's still alive somewhere.

 

[bazzateer]

Parents never had a camper, only camping I ever did was in friends' back gardens. Always been into old cars though and ended up a Rootes fan with a couple of Imps and a Singer. Used a tent a few times for the Imp events and hated it, so I bought a trailer tent which is much better.

Always fancied a camper though and being a Rootes fan it had to be a Commer. Joined this site and despite needing the cash for my yet to be built garage I ended up with Peggy.

If I told you I was a pathological liar, would you believe me?
Peggy's got an MOT !!! (not a lie)

 

[Dodgemark]

i have been mad on commers since 1974. my dad bought a brand new luton van with a tailboard, deluxe cab and fitted with a perkins 4108 and finished in safari beige at the grand cost of £1750 from sims of bath. this was kept for 5 yrs the last year of ownership it was addicted to easy start even in the summer since then i have owned 1 panel van and 2 campers hope that did not bore the pants of you to much

Dodge Glendale

 

[mattmonkey]

A few years ago i nearly bought a Darksider van, but at last minute i needed the money for something else. Then last year after i'd saved up a bit of cash to get myself a little classic (was looking for a Mini, Herald convertible or something similar) my grandfather died. He left me a bit more money and combined with my Dad's funds who wanted a campervan anyway we started looking. We didn't like the interior layout in VW's, and everything else we looked at was a bit boring (or out of my price) and then i found the forum. I fell in love with the vans and the people on here so it had to be a Commer. We missed out on lots of vans that sold before we could get there, but when we found Pootle we bought it there and then coz the minute i saw it i knew my grandfather would have loved it. And being a Tourstar it suited my dad who's a big bloke and 70 years old and would have struggled to get round a smaller van.
Having spent my childhood and adulthood as a camper, looking out of the door of cold, damp tents in jealousy at people wrapped up in warm dry vans i am now a very happy bunny indeed[8D]
And as much as the van is lovely, the welcome, advice and humour from all on the forum makes me feel sure we made the right decision

Mattmonkey and Claire

Pootle Power !!!

 

[studiocommer]

Circumstance found me mine... a combination of a horribly unreliable car, staying in a caravan miles from the nearest bus route and a drastic cut in working hours left me in need of wheels suitable to double as accommodation. All the vans of any description in the area were well over double or triple my budget -then an ad in a supermarket found me Martha, my first '71 autosleeper - 6 months left of what must have been the ropiest MOT in motoring. She was only supposed to be a temporary solution, but my heart was sold - the combination of Commer camping on our wonderful Pembrokeshire coastline was just incredible.

Just as with a heavy heart it became apparent that Martha was beyond my saving (sadly before I knew of the forum) a neighbour spotted Bessie for sale in a local commune - and ran without major problems for 3 years as a daily driver. And boy, I can't wait to finish the welding and get her back....

Martha at Whitesands...

Bessie - four star commerdation

 

[Enigma]

well, yet another 'I blame my parents' story...

When i was about 7 my dad came home with a 1961 commer PA. The paint was a bit flat but was in very good nick otherwise. I remember feeling a bit embarrassed going out in it at first but soon learnt to love the holidays it gave us and I would be sitting in the drivers seat at every opportunity.....I was very upset when he traded it in for a MK1 transit

Anyway, Cazz and the boys kept on and on to me about going camping and I said 'no way' only if we got a camper van. we began looking at VW's and were horrified at the prices...then something twigged and I remembered dad's old Commer, far cooler than following the mainstream and a far superior layout...

we googled 'commer' and found this forum, we sat in the corner like newbies in a school, frightened to speak to the other children who all seemed to know each other

Finally we plucked up the courage to type our first post and we got such a warm welcome

we spent hours and hours and hours searching for a van and were going to go look at a few but with very limited knowledge, didn't know which way to turn....panky seemed to a little more friendly than most at the time, so we emailed him direct and he nudged us very gently in the right direction of what at the time I thought was a wierd looking van...When Cazz showed me, my first words were ''we can't buy that, the others will laugh, it looks like a bloody Smurf!''

Anyway after many sleepless nights of reasonong we went to see 'Smurf' and fell in love

A Big Thanks to Steve Williams and also to Panky[8D][8D]

Also a Big thankyou to everybody else on here for making this such a great forum...can't wait for the next meet[8D]

''COMMER'EnSayThat''

 

[Stan n van]

mmmm, well no point in lying I suppose:I

Until September 2009 we had no idea what a commer van was and on typing in "what is the alternative to a VW" (we have a budget too) in google this was one possible type of van which we instantly loved. On googling Commer Van you can guess what popped up and we posted first in Vans Wanted on 8 September. Loads of welcome messages etc and having spent hours trawling the site for info decided with our limited knowledge (and a very friendly mechanic we know)a Commer Van was going to be perfect. Having viewed a highwayman found after trawling the internet we spotted the post in the vans for sale for a PA in Keswick. Called the bloke instantly and got a foot in the door and two days later was on the way up to Keswick (700 miles round trip). Purchased before the end of September we had about three weeks from logging on the site to buying the van and this was entirely done on the basis that everyone kept emphaising the need to move fast on any half decent van that turned up so thanks for that as otherwise I reckon we would still be Commerless[V] Loads of day trips so far but can't wait for our first family camping trip! A nice list of to do things but once we see some other vans (we still haven't seen another van in the flesh yet) we are sure there will be loads of things we will want to add to that list. He's named after my Grandad who had left me some money about 20 years ago which I finally found something worth spending it on....so here he is Percy.

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[CHARLIE COMMER]

How sad is this, i looked at the picture above and my first thought was i recognise the motorhome in the background!!! checked the reg and we sold it at some point. so my story is while down at an aunts newsagents in wales at the tender age of 14 i settled in to a copy of "popular classics" and never looked back! ive had lots of classics since including 4 ex police morris minors at one point. the commer was a wedding present to sam as shes wanted one for years. her story would probably read that she fell in love with a gorgeous handsome chap who liked old cars and she read his magazines and spotted a commer and fell in love with them too Hehehehe!:I

I started this life with nothing, i still have most of it!

 

[Chamba]

This is how I think I got into Commers..... I've been into old cars ever since I recognised what a car was. I don't know what attracted me to the older motor back then, probably the very same reasons that attract me to them now. I even wanted black and silver numberplates from the scrappy to go on my go kart; funny kid!
There was a scruffy ex-BT Dodge Spacevan at the end of my road which I remember always looking at. I suppose even then, they were a bit of a funny shape with the lack of wheel arches etc. I also remember thinking that their noses shared a big resemblance to these things out of The Terrahawks!

Without realising it at the time, I was an appreciator of Rootes products as I was keen on Imps and I loved this Humber Sceptre, also down my road. To me the metallic green paint and wooden dash looked amazing!

25 odd years later I've finally got the Rootes fix, by realising my dream and getting a Commer of my own and it was well worth the wait. The only other car I've owned to come close to giving a childhood nostalgia fix are the Heralds I owned, but the 'Tulip' is in another league. It's great at long last that these lovely vans are getting the specialist attention and enthusiastic following they much deserve. Amen.

 

[kjh75]

My grandfather ran a small car breakers from the 50's through to the 80's, my Dad was a mechanic then went on to drive lorries till he retired.

Its no wonder I got the classic bug, I've now got a Commer, Karrier and a few pre-war Hillmans (I've just been offered another aswel!).

As long as my wife doesn't mind I'm sure I'll keep going with it.

kjh

 

[commeracer]

I guess mine entwines with Chris,s.
I grew up getting ferried around to steam rallies/airshows/vehicle shows in the back of a string of Austin a35/70/90 vans, so really a bmc man at heart.Owned a Riley since 1986 :I but do have fond memories of a school trip to scotland in the commer minibus [8D].
Always loved old vehicles whatever make, modern stuff is so dull and uninteresting [xx(]
Chris wanted a camper and bought a type25 darksider (despite my advice [V]) which i refused to work on [xx(], which she eventually sold in favour of an Austin j2 which she found too difficult to drive. So that was sold and i suggested a commer, so i guess its all my fault :I. No.1 was bought closely followed by No.3. Then she traded the BSA i built for her for RAN, and by then it was too late to stop sold Ran to Nick & Matt to free up some funds and bought Sybhil, the slyder, the urban spacevan and Dodgeyslyder, just for good measure

"you were only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"

 

[Comm - Don]

Adam i'm loving the B.M.X. Was it a Blitz by any chance? I had one very similar. Oh and those Terrahawks things, i remember them well, i loved the show but was sh@t scared of Zelda:-0

 

[Moley]

I guess mine dates back to 1999 the year after I bought the Minx, we went up to Moffat for the Scottish Rootes enthusiasts meet and there were two Commers at the meet, one was an early coachbuilt, not sure what model, but I just fell in love then. Anyway having only just aquired the Minx funds were already allocated, so it's taken till last year to finally get one.... now Dave's after a Husky to add to the fleet

Moley and Brian the Snail

 

[Chamba]

quote:
Originally posted by Comm - Don

Adam i'm loving the B.M.X. Was it a Blitz by any chance? I had one very similar. Oh and those Terrahawks things, i remember them well, i loved the show but was sh@t scared of Zelda:-0

No, it was a Hawk - £24 from Woolworths my parents later confessed! I'm pretty sure Zelda used to scare the hell out of me too. I told a girl at work last week that she had 'Zelda hair'. Needless to say that went down like lead balloon once she Googled it hahaha! [B)]

 

[transitvanman]

i took my mk1 transit off the road a few years ago for a full rebuld and got anouther mk1 transit to drive wile i am doing it then foolishly i went to a transit rally in gaydon where i was not made at all welcome and decided never to go agen and sold my van i still have my 1st transit in my garage what i will get out all in good time. i have a love for old vans i so went to see hugh in kent who had a bt van in his garden but it belonged to a bloke who was keeping it there i got his number and after a lot of calls i got a price out of him then it all went dead i tryed phoneing him but no ancer in the end i gave up but i had the bug for a commer van a frend told me about a mini bus what i got but its got windows in the sides that will never do so it was sold i got a dodge van off a bloke in north london what i was going to do up but anouther van came up from the same bloke that was a lot better wich is what i have now