By William Coleman
A British legend will be officially opening the 2017 Motorhome and Caravan Show at Birmingham’s NEC on October 17. Michael ‘Eddie’ Edwards has now been confirmed for the show.
Eddie ‘The Eagle’ who represented Great Britain in the 1988 Winter Olympics will be featured alongside the iconic VW campercans. Something he has a long history with. ‘The Eagle’ was fortunate enough to have been given a VW camper conversion by his father which was his home away from home during his ski-jumping career. “I’m really looking forward to opening the show,” says Eddie. “I travelled over 50,000 miles in my beige VW caravanette. It wasn’t super-fast, but I got there. It had an extendable roof and boiling my kettle on the stove helped me keep warm in the mountains at minus 20 degrees!”
There will be a full showcase of the VW Campervan. There will be 3 decades of models starting from the 1950s. There will be over 700 of these iconic camper vans on display over the three day event. Personally I’m most excited to see the new 2018 VW range. Hopefully they will have some new concepts for the modern VW camper.
The highlights of the generations of VW Camper on display will show the T1 with its split-screen. The classic ‘van with a face’ is the definitive look for the much loved motorhome. They were manufactured from 1950 to 1967, with its air-cooled engine outputting just 25bhp: around half the power of a 50cc moped. In the 1950s camper conversions were designated as commercial vehicles with a speed restriction of 30mph; this was successfully challenged in court in 1956 and campers were reclassified as private vehicles.
Eddie the Eagle joins a line-up of celebrity chefs who will cook from the kitchens of newly-launched leisure vehicles in the LIVE Theatre at the show.
Carvantime will be at the show for the entirety of the event. And I will be paying special attention the icon VW Campervan. Keep an eye on our Facebook for live broadcasts and competition.
