looking for advice on 109 rtt or dormobile

[farmerdave]

Up until about 4 or so years ago, I had THE Dormobile in Aptos California for a decade, then moved to Monterey county and this summer to Flagstaff. There is a single gray Park Ranger in the Santa Cruz area that was imported By Linus Tremain of Live Oaks area.

There are 3 Dormobiles undergoing painfully slow restorations in the South SF Bay area, 2 apart, one of which is partially reassembled the other of which might be buyable near a town called Visalia, CA. And there is a '62 Dormobile I know in Southern California. One in Oregon, 2 in Arizona, one in Colorado, 3 in Washington and that's about it for the Dormobile in the Western states that I sorta keep track of. There are probably a few more Dormobile scattered around in the Western States that I am unaware of.

Anyway, the 4 door based Land Rover Dormobile sleeps 4 people, BUT there is only interior for a single person to comfortably camp completely inside one. With multiple people you sleep inside, cook inside but spend most of your time outside where it is way less cramped.


If you get serious about buying a Land Rover Dormobile you should join the Dormobile mail list. If there is one for sale usually someone on the list knows about it.

Consider a Land Rover Dormobile to be a go anywhere class B RV, made of 1960's technology that the factory says need maintenance every 4000 miles.

I think you would be MUCH better off with a large dome style tent like the one in the VW showroom, that docks to the open rear of a truck. You have wider camping space and less chance of someone accidentally falling 7 feet.

I think a wider docked rear tent that can be used in conjunction to the rear interior makes a whole lot more sense than a roof top tent.

Hi Teriann
Thanks for the thorough response. As far as the series being 60's tech and needing maintenance, I enjoy wrenching on my vehicles, so no biggie, its part of farming as well. I am well acquainted with Lucas (The Prince of Darkness). I have been interested in series Rovers for years, just have not acted on the impulse yet.

I checked out your website, I think that I saw you driving the opposite side of Highway One once, I almost drove off the road trying to see your Rover going by.

I met Linus once, he is a nice guy - let me drive his Volvo camper.

As for the one in Visalia, is it a basket case?

The rear tent idea is interesting, I wonder how much time it takes to set up/break down. When I take the kids camping we have a huge tent that takes forever to set up by myself.
Dave

[farmerdave]

Think there is / was a carawagon with a 2.6 on the series vehicle for sale section of the forum think it was down in AR - I have a 67 wagon wtih a RTT my - 2 kids (6 & 7) love it - kind of a mobile tree fort for them and I can actually get my wife to come out campling as well.

Can all four of you fit in the RTT? The tree fort thing is kind of what I thought my kids would think too.
Dave

[farmerdave]

I don't know if Nicholas is on this forum. I sent him an email to take a look here. Generally speaking EVERBODY with a Series Land Rover is happy to talk about thier rig to an interested stranger/outsider.
I for one would like to see your Mog!

I will echo others feelings that your family is too large for camping in a Rover and would need a tent. I also think you would need a 109 5 door with seating for everybody. While you can fit 3 across the front seat it is not practical for long trips and the middle person should be the smallest.

gene

My Unimog is ugly as all get out, but you are welcome to come see it, provided you come in your Rover My shop is east of Watsonville. The unimog has a selector in it that lets you use front wheel steering, rear wheel steering, turn the wheels in opposite directions, or in the same direction (crab sideways). It is just a toy at this point. My dad is an auction junky and bought it at a Cal Trans auction, for some inexplicable reason. It is fun to play with though.
Dave

[lrover109]

They can. My daughter sleeps at our heads and my wife son and I sleep the length - guess it is a benefit of having smaller kids. There are several different tents that you would have to open off to the side and would have more room - think that there is now even a "double tent" - with two ladders adult and a kid side - for us, the thought was that eventually I would get kicked down or my wife would have another excuse not to camp with us

[NRutterbush]

In Visalia?

There is a dormobile in Visalia? Seriously? I'm 45 minutes away (30 if excited) and I'd love to go see it, check it out, maybe bring it home to add to my collection of torn apart rovers! Is the owner on the forum? Drop me some directions, I will bring beer, and am willing to help if you need a project done.

I saw a 110 that looked kitted out for some sort of expedition a few weeks ago in Fresno, but I couldn't get turned around fast enough to catch them up.

As far as importing to CA, as long as you are pre 1975 (verify that, might be 73) or diesel, you are good to go. No smog required.

Personally, I think the Unimogs are awesome. My roommate had one in college, and it is hard to beat the low-low-low...low-gears that you can get from them. Does yours change right and left hand drive with a lever?

I agree that rovers have much more character than mogs. I've been thinking about doing some sort of RTT / Dormobile hybrid, where I would have a roof hatch that let you access the bottom of the tent, and gave room to stand up.

Any thoughts?

-Nate
'63 88 Petrol - dead but together
'61 88 Diesel - exploded isometric diagram mode

[gambrinus]

The Dormobiles in Visalia belong to Charles Irvin. Not sure if he's keeping the whole collection or if he'd consider selling one.

RW